


even though you know i love it

by caelesmiel



Category: Casualverse
Genre: F/F, I think I meant to write a lighthearted story but it turned pretty angsty already, also the literary opinions are very much my own no one has to agree with them, annie and isabelle are the friends she wished she never had, charlie has a rag tag crew and all you know how it goes, charlie is a bitch for like a total of (1) chapters, i dont know where i'm going with this story, just noticed charlie is that filthy rich bitch in like every story i've written, noelle is a ballerina again also a recurring theme, noelle is stubborn as shit and borderline annoying, noelle lowkey has anger issues but you didn't hear that from me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2020-06-24 16:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 36,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19727608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caelesmiel/pseuds/caelesmiel
Summary: "Lowry paired you with her? Out of all people?"Noelle's lip curls up by instinct as she spares a certain blonde a sidelong glance, as if willing to make her disappear off the face of earth. She looks away not more than a few seconds later but still catches sight of a self-assured smirk amidst a recounting to her entourage. Noelle feels that hate is a rather strong word but she takes the liberty of using it loosely when it comes to Charlie Sloane. For someone she'd only spoken to a handful of times, you'd think the girl wouldn't be so high up on the list of people she considered the bane of her existence.





	1. Chapter 1

"Lowry paired you with her? Out of all people?"

Noelle's lip curls up by instinct as she spares a certain blonde a sidelong glance, as if willing to make her disappear off the face of earth. She looks away not more than a few seconds later but still catches sight of a self-assured smirk amidst a recounting to her entourage. Noelle feels that hate is a rather strong word but she takes the liberty of using it loosely when it comes to Charlie Sloane. For someone she'd only spoken to a handful of times, you'd think the girl wouldn't be so high up on the list of people she considered the bane of her existence.

Admittedly, that might just be a tad dramatic but she'll pin that on the creative writing and dramatics classes she's had to take this year for extra credit. Then again, one of those classes was the reason Noelle's even in contact with Charlie Sloane so she might just not go down that road altogether. Doesn't mean she will stop sulking over it either, because that is, in fact, all she can do about it now.

"I'll tell her what she needs to do and avoid her like the plague for the rest." Noelle settles decisively, shoulders bunching up as she settles her bag down on the desk. It's a moment later that she decides to reach for one of the pockets and pull out a carton of chocolate milk. Considering it's the only thing she has until lunch, it's safe to say she'll burn the calories once or twice over so she doesn't feel too bad about having them.

"Good luck with that." Isabelle pipes up, a snort stifled by her knuckles as she says so. Annie laughs too, tousling blonde locks past her shoulders as she fixes a sympathetic smile on Noelle.

"You know you'll never get her to do anything, right? There's no way, she barely even shows up at school." Annie huffs out with a chuckle but the irritation is evident in her tone.

It's true though, the days Charlie Sloane decides to show up at school aren't as often, veering over to rare during the holidays. It's understandable to an extent, Noelle figures if she was filthy rich she'd probably do the same too. Who the hell needs school when you could afford to travel whenever and buy anything you lay your eyes on. It's what even gets people to pursue a higher education in the first place, to secure a comfortable life.

"I don't care. I have other shit to do, I can't waste my time with a whole assignment." Noelle notes brusquely, features screwing up in displeasure. "It's not even one of my main classes. I shouldn't be putting all that much effort."

"But you will, either way." Isabelle counters knowingly. "You need all the good grades you can get and I know you won't trust her, out of all people, to lay a finger on that assignment."

But Noelle woke up in the wrong side of the bed that morning apparently, because there's too little reason and a whole lot of anger that's clouding her judgement. "Fuck that." Her chair's leg screeches against the floor as she stands up abruptly. She goes to unzip her backpack, pulling out a few papers and zipping it back up once they're in her hold. "She'll do her part whether or not she wants to." Next, the dark haired slings a strap of her bag over one shoulder and raises a hand to wave at them.

"Are you serious? You're doing this right now?" Isabelle wonders frantically, looking comically worried at that prospect.

Annie seems to have a whole different set of thoughts in her mind. "Why are you taking your bag with you?" She wonders, eyes trained where the backpack rests.

"I doubt she'll be around past recess. Might as well get it done." Noelle answers Isabelle first, feigned nonchalance attached to her tone. She turns to Annie shortly after. "I have to practice a new choreo for contemporary. I'll see you later at home."

A light wave of her fingers, that's soon reciprocated before she turns away, is all Noelle can hang on to before marching for the enemy's territory. She doesn't intend to back down, the anger fuel has yet to subdue, but a quick look among the blonde and her crew of yes-men makes her think that she could've probably chosen a better moment to confront her. One where she was possibly alone, without a bunch of people to back her up.

"Sloane." She calls out the moment she's within hearing distance to the blonde, though she's long since been spotted by the ones around her. Ryan in particular, who's leering at her with a smirk on his lips and Clyde next to him, wearing a similar expression. Emmanuelle and Rosaline are on the opposite side of the table, facing Charlie Sloane, who just so happens to be standing with her back to her.

Emmanuelle reacts first, sandy eyebrows hiked up pointedly in her forehead, as she tilts her chin over to where Noelle is, an idle grin tugging at her lips. Noelle's sure she's wearing somewhat of a deadpan expression as the entourage regard her in amusement but she can almost physically feel her facial muscles harden the moment Charlie turns to face her.

There's a myriad of expressions dancing in the blonde's features that Noelle actually takes a moment to pick them out. There's surprise for sure, even curiosity to some extent, all paired with a dose of arrogance tucked away in the cocksure grin lines and the crinkles by her eyes. A face painted by the gods wasted on one of the least pleasant people Noelle has had the misfortune of coming across on campus. Such a shame, indeed.

"Lowry paired us for an assignment." Noelle finds herself saying when Charlie's eyebrows rise expectantly, tone pointedly void of any emotion.

When she doesn't say anything else, Charlie is the one to take up the initiative to urge her. "Yeah, and?" She sounds nothing short of condescending, as if talking to Noelle right there and then is a mere nuisance and she'd much rather do anything but.

Noelle refrains from rolling her eyes, instead choosing to extend the papers in her direction. "Some pointers for your part." She wouldn't have done such thing out of kindness of her heart but Lowry was merciful enough to provide them herself.

Charlie doesn't hesitate to take the papers but the glint in her eyes as their gazes lock is enough to make her realize that she's just doing it to humour her. It only becomes more evident as she speaks up. "Oh, is that so?" And Noelle starts wondering in just how much trouble she'd get if she decked her in the face right there and then.

A whole lot of trouble probably, since Charlie's father just so happens to be the school's main donor, hence the liberties the blonde can allow herself to take. Immediate expulsion, possibly a charge for assault too and a good few days in a cell. It takes her little to decide that it's nowhere near what she wants.

The blonde barely skims through the contents before looking up at her, and Noelle starts thinking she'll probably ask what she is still doing there. Come to think of it, there's really no reason why she can't just turn around and walk away. But something about the blonde's haste of actions tells her she isn't done talking. And Noelle may just be itching to fight. Verbally, at best.

"That looks about right." Charlie notes cryptically, but the grin she's wearing promises nothing good. "Don't forget to put my name on it." And she aptly slaps the papers against her stomach, barely making sure the other takes a hold of them before going to retract her hand.

Noelle takes a moment to gape incredulously at her. Did she honest to god think Noelle'd do the work for her and ask her to review the pointers? The longer she stares at that stupid grin and hears the childish snickers in the background the quicker she can feel fury spread through her like wildfire. She's never been one for violence, but she's seriously thinking about bodily harming this god damned b—.

"Are you expecting some sort of compensation?" Charlie keeps at the mocking tones when the other doesn't walk away. "That comes when the assignment is finished and graded nicely." Is all she says before turning away, relishing in the laughs she incites from her group. Noelle could've pounced her that exact same instant, but she doesn't, by some miraculous force of patience that seems to have been bestowed upon her.

It's a wonder how the papers don't crumble under her clutching, but luckily they don't remain in her hold for too long. Charlie's turned away by the time she throws the papers on the table and slams her hand over them, letting it linger. That surely gets her the blonde's attention, just in time when a painfully strained grin takes up her features. So strained that she wonders somewhere at the back of her mind if it'll remain embedded eternally.

"If you don't put in the same amount of work as I do, the last thing that'll go on that is your name." She holds an icy glare on her, despite the tug of her lips. "Oh and save the compensation. Daddy dearest'll make good use of it to buy you good grades."

She watches as the blonde's expression gradually falls and gives one last glare down her nose before sauntering, a string of curses slipping past her lips, most notably "Fucking bitch" that probably didn't go as unheard as she thought because there are laughters and gasps sounding left and right and her friends look downright horrified and only slightly impressed.

Noelle gives them a last wave of her hand and storms out of there ; her blood is pumped with adrenaline and she's on a full body tremble because oh god, fucking hell she actually—

  
`°`°`°`°`

Noelle expects that to be the last she sees of Charlie Sloane for the term, but she's in for quite the surprise on her way to classic ballet that morning. It's just the day after her little tantrum in the break lounge and she only half regrets it, but she had honestly thought the blonde would steer clear from attending school for a while. Fuck off to some island somewhere and come back with a tan to show off her riches, and it'd all be water under the bridge.

  
Nothing of that sort happens ; instead there's Charlie chatting merrily with Madame Kournikova as if they'd known each other for an eternity. The mere sight of it makes Noelle's gut clench because she has a really bad feeling about this.

Madame goes inside the classroom before she's even halfway through the hallway, but Charlie lingers behind, gaze finding the dark haired's and immediately perking up at the sight of her. The least Noelle can do is look away and pretend she isn't even there because the blonde starts looking awfully smug, akin to a villain having carried out their devious plan successfully. And Noelle really doesn't want to know what she's done or intends to do.

"Morning Gaspard." Charlie chirps joyously, as the younger is mere feet away from the double doors leading to the studio.

She seems to note that the girl has zero intentions of stopping or even acknowledging her altogether, because she steps into her line of sight before Noelle can escape.

"A bit rude not to return someone's greeting, don't you think?" The blonde feigns distress, but the playful glint in her gaze tells a whole different story.

"Get the fuck out of my face." Noelle snaps without missing a single beat, even surprising herself at how easily she gets riled up when it comes to Charlie Sloane. It's not that she's particularly cheery in the mornings but she's near seething now and it's all merit of the blonde.

Charlie simply laughs at that, a short, humorless sound. "You really have an attitude problem, you know that?" Oh, that's rich coming from her. "I was just talking to Madame, how some girls just aren't fit for this place. Not enough discipline, or self control. The school has quite a reputation to uphold and as head of the disciplinary committee, she takes that stuff very seriously." The dark haired can pinpoint the exact moment her face falls by the way the blonde's grin widens. "I mentioned how I was harassed by someone and she demanded I give her a name. What do you think I should do?"

And Noelle laughs because she's actually being ridiculous. "Are you fucking serious? Harassed?" The dark haired looks at her for a while before scoffing and going to walk past her, only for the other to get in her way once again, bodily shielding the entrance.

"No one talks to me like that and gets away with it." The blonde looks absolutely livid and it's the first time Noelle's ever seen her like that. It's a look she pulls off well, though it looks somewhat out of place. And if it were anyone but her, she'd allow herself to feel fazed at the slightest.

Instead she hangs on to the remaining shreds of pride and fury to tilt her chin up in contempt. "No one treats me like that and gets away with it." Her arms cross over her chest as she says so and it isn't long before the blonde's frown breaks into a grin.

"Well the difference darling," She swipes a finger across Noelle's cheek as she says so, but the younger is quick to swat it away. "is that I'm indispensable here and you're on a scholarship. Do you know how easily those can get revoked?"

Noelle can feel her eyes widen at the implication, her throat just starting to close up, but enough for her to choke out "You sick bitch". Charlie's grin widens the moment her message manages to go through, as if she didn't make note of the curse at all.

"Second time you call me that." Or maybe she did make note of it. "I should probably have you out of here for that alone." The blonde sounds genuinely contemplative at that and it's probably what makes the younger falter. Something clenches inside her, a sense of utter helplessness recoils in the pit of her stomach and the tears that pool her eyes, almost by sheer instinct, do next to nothing to help. She can't even muster to feel ashamed at her reaction, not when the most prized of her accomplishments is at stake. 

"What do you want?" The dark haired mutters gravely, averting her gaze away from the blonde for a moment, as if it'd help her pull herself together somehow.

"Oh, nothing much." Charlie muses playfully, pulling a stack of folded papers out of her jacket's pocket and waving it humorously.

Noelle would probably laugh if she wasn't in the verge of tears. "You're willing to have me expelled over an assignment?" The more she tries to make sense of it, the more ridiculous it sounds. Noelle knows herself to be prideful but going at this length over a wounded ego is astounding and way beyond her.

"This and others to come." The blonde corrects her with a faux solemn look on her face. The papers still hang in the air, even if the other has shown no signs of wanting to take them.

Despite everything, the dark haired still finds it in her to scowl. "You can't hold it over my head for that long." Her defying glare seems to amuse the other because she chuckles joyously.

"Then I'll find something else." Charlie retorts, batting her lashes sweetly as if she isn't blatantly threatening the other.

The younger clamps her mouth shut to refrain from saying any stupidities she'll later regret, jaws clenched and lips twitching with barely contained anger and disdain. Noelle snatches the papers from her hold, avoiding her eyes while doing so.

"Stay away from me." Is all she can manage to hiss through gritted teeth before harshly shouldering her way past her.

Fuck Charlie Sloane, fuck this, fucking hell, fuck it, fuck—

  
`°`°`°`°`

"What happened to your 'Fuck that, she'll do her part' attitude you had a few days back?" Isabelle teases the second time she passes by the living area, this time lingering instead of going to the kitchen.

Noelle keeps her gaze trained on the laptop sitting on her lap, her fingers moving swiftly over the keys. She's been practically immobile for the past few hours, muscles strained and aching but she'll be damned if she doesn't get it done today. She has half a mind to ignore Isabelle's statement altogether because then she will just grow frustrated and abandon the assignment to the sole source of god's mercy. That's the last thing she needs, really.

That's until Isabelle waves a hand in front of the monitor and Noelle reluctantly looks up to her. Upon seeing her eyebrows raised with enquiry, Noelle lets out a sigh. "She threatened to have me expelled. I can't afford to be prideful when it comes to my spot in the academy."

Isabelle plops down on the couch next to her. "Unbelievable. I knew she was a bitch but that's just mean." Noelle doesn't have to look to her side to see the incredulous look she's probably giving her. She can picture it already, can hear it in her voice.

Noelle merely shrugs. "I just want to get it done with and never have to deal with her again." She can hear the resignation in her tone but to hell with it. She's not halfway through the damned assignment yet and there's still a long day ahead.

Isabelle doesn't say anything for a while, only flickers her gaze between the monitor and the girl's profile. Her eyebrows have drawn together, she can tell from the slight wrinkling above her nose and the corners of her mouth are downturned. Isabelle can only imagine just how harshly she's beating herself over it. It's unlikely for Noelle to go against her own words, and it's all the worse if she's coerced into it.

"She took your reaction pretty badly." Isabelle notes, sounding as if she's recalling rather than recounting. "Everyone who heard had a field day, even her own group was laughing."

To her surprise, Noelle giggles. It's short and she catches herself soon after but it sounds genuine. "I really don't know what got over me." She sounds just as surprised as she looks. "I mean, she had it coming but I hadn't really planned it. My mouth just ran by itself." She shifts the laptop where it's sitting, gaze flying over to the turned off tv without any particular aim.

"I really don't get her." Isabelle voices her thoughts. "We used to share a bunch of classes and on the rare that she showed up, she wasn't all that bad. I've seen her act funny and charming and then it's as if she turns around and switches personalities. It's really odd."

"I get it." Noelle echoes, much to her disbelief. "I had a whole different image of her in my head, before we started sharing classes. Even at the beginning in Lowry's, she'd speak her mind in every lecture and everyone would listen intently. She just had this way with words." She sounds thoughtful as she says so, as if she's picking her words carefully. It makes sense because despite the resentment she has towards her, she's trying to give an unbiased outlook on the foresaken blonde.

"Are we actually sympathising with her?" Isabelle chortles, if only to lessen some tension and unnecessary seriousness attached to the conversation.

"Fuck no." Noelle exclaims, expression souring lightly. "She had me doing all this work for no reason. She can literally choke."

They're in hysterics by the time Annie joins them and she only adds on to the bout of laughter as they recount the shenanigans back to her. Noelle isn't sure how long it goes but she knows the assignment is long forgotten and they're watching a game show on tv shortly after so it's safe to say she doesn't get it done that day.

`°`°`°`°`

Charlie Sloane is everywhere and Noelle is not even kidding. In classes, hallways, break lounge, campus, everywhere. She can't round a corner without her being within a mile radius in her line of sight. It's honestly ridiculous. It's her third year there and she's seen Charlie more often these past weeks than she has the two previous years. She's not even the only one who's noticed it, her friends have, and every other student has, if the bewildered looks they accompany the blonde with everywhere she goes account for something. Rationally, she should be off to a foreign country somewhere, filling up her instagram feed for her peers to gawke at and burn with envy. But no, she's there instead, marvelling and confusing poor civilians all the same with her mere presence.

She's at Lowry's too, the class that she only bothered to attend monthly once upon a time. She hasn't approached Noelle again, maybe a snide comment here and there, but that's about it. She did get what she wanted, the assignment is already handed in so really there's no reason for Noelle to ever interact with her again.

Still, there are times that she catches her eye and finds the other already looking. Coincidental, for sure, even with the amount of times it has happened. But there's something in her gaze, heavy with things left unsaid. An apology, would be Noelle's first and possibly only guess, but she's not holding her breath for it.

"Alright class." Ms. Lowry averts the attention to her with a clap of her hands. "I read and graded all the assignments and some interesting points were made. Some were a little underwhelming, I should say. I expected new takes on the book and not sticking to already existing hypothesis. And some were pretty bold but very fascinating and kept me on the edge."

She's walking up and down the passage as she carries on. "I want to hear them from you too. They say a good book is one that incites the most debate. So let's hear it, just how many opposing arguments we have."

Several hands fly up and a redhead by the name Lydia is the first to speak up. "There's more to Mersault's character than he lets on. It's all in the subtext. The way Camus has decided to lay out the story, it's based more on implications than actual affirmations."

Lowry nods along and there are collective hums of agreement."That certainly stands. A defining characteristic of his writing style is most definitely the rich subtext. But it's not the style that is as compelling as the main character himself. What would you define Mersault as? Who would you draw a comparison with?"

"He's a classic tragic hero." A fair haired boy pipes up. "He's willing to die for the truth, for his ideals." Noelle's eyebrows draw together at that, specifically at the several people who agree with him.

"I read some theories about how he could even be compared to Hamlet." Lowry supplies. "They're both complex characters."

"Comparing them to each other is way farfetched." Noelle finds herself saying, surprised when her thought echoes throughout the spacious room.

"Mhm. Elaborate, Ms. Gaspard." Lowry encourages, eyebrows hiked with piqued interest and an intrigued smile on her lips.

Noelle shifts into a more confortable position in her seat. "I can imagine why people would think of comparing them. There's the death of a parent, but one case it's from familial treason and in the other are purely natural causes. The protagonists both find themselves in an unusual situation but Hamlet is imposed into such position by external factors while Mersault follows a logical seuqence of his life choices. There's—

"There's nothing logical about Mersault's situation." A voice cuts in nonchalantly. Noelle looks over to two rows ahead of her, Charlie Sloane bodily turned in her seat to face her. "The whole story is literally centered around the absurd."

The dark haired merely glances at her, surprised and annoyed all at once at the sudden disruption, before turning back to Lowry. "Not once has Camus claimed for the absurd to be part of his story. He was neither a philosopher, nor an existentialist as many others made him out to be. He's painfully realistic and the era's general opinion judged him harshly for it."

"That's true." Lawry agrees. "Camus never admitted to being a philosopher or an existentialist writer. But then why is he held at such pedestal for being the kick starter of an era?"

Charlie speaks up again. "He considered himself to be neither because he didn't feel that he fell under the same cathegory as Sartre and the other philosophers of that era. Camus was an avid atheist and very much against capital punishment and that didn't sit well with the high ends of the era."

Why is she even going against her? Their names sit together in the exact same assignment. "The only reason why they made him out to be an absurdist was because they couldn't accept a protagonist behaving the way Mersault did. Morally ambiguous characters turned into antagonists aren't everyone's cup of tea."

Charlie looks rather amused as they lock eyes again, as if she's up for a challenge. "It's absurd because he was condemned for not crying at his mother's funeral. And he did love his mother, he said so to the old man, Salamano. He loved Marie too, he stood up for Raymond. He's not the villain you make him out to be." It is the nonchalance to her tone that riles Noelle up if anything. It makes her sound completely self-assured, as if she'd already won the argument without even starting it.

"He was condemned because he killed a man." Noelle fires, her voice firm and decisive. "The ruling of him being sentenced just because he didn't cry at the funeral, is to showcase how powerful the crowd's mentality is. He didn't love his mother rightfully, the feelings in her confronts can be easily explained by the Oedipus complex. He didn't care much for Marie or Raymond. His lack of empathy, expression and social abilities, make him the textbook definition of a sociopath. The trigger by external factors, namely the sun and the heat, could even hint towards psycopathy."

Charlie lets out a scoff. "You're taking this at surface level."

"And you're reading too much into it." Noelle counters, lining their gazes together with intent and not considering backing down.

"Alright, alright." Lowry chimes in with a light laugh. "This is the kind of debate I was expecting. But let's hear the others too."

Noelle has looked away from the blonde before Lowry is even finished talking but she can see that the other hasn't turned away yet. She still has plenty of fight left in her, the sudden adrenaline fuel making her heart beat manically and her skin tingle. But she won't give Charlie Sloane the pleasure. It was obvious she only wanted to get a rise out of her, barely giving the arguments any seriousness. It was as if she was only looking to oppose her and not make actual valid points.

The anger simmers down as the lesson rears to an end and it's almost all forgotten as the bell rings. Still, she packs her things hastily and throws the backpack over her shoulder because she has this sudden urge to get the hell away from there. A quick hand motion from Lowry, stills her in place. Damn it.

"Ms. Sloane, you stay too. I need to ask you both something."

Noelle looks over to Charlie with less alarm and more disdain, because she just had to oppose her, didn't she? The blonde only gives a playful wiggle of her eyebrows and Noelle just wants to punch her in the—

"I thought your assignment was very interesting. It made many valid points, backed up with sufficient evidence." She speaks up once the students have filtered out of the classroom, her gaze downcast on the papers she's flicking through on her desk.

She makes a sound of satisfaction once she finds it and lifts it up for both to see. "I just found it somewhat odd that Ms. Gaspard was protecting the exact same points made in the assignment while you were opposing them." She says the last part looking directly at Charlie, who doesn't look particularly distressed.

"I changed my mind." The blonde replies nonchalantly, giving a shrug of her shoulders as she says so.

Lowry looks at her for a while before letting out a light laugh. It can only go downhill from there, Noelle thinks, she can feel the tension hanging static in the air. Either Lowry will unleash hell on her, thought it's not typical of her to do so, or either Charlie will threaten to have her fired on the spot. The dark haired just can't figure out which is more likely to happen.

Suddenly, Lowry turns to her. "Noelle, you can leave if you want. I only need to discuss this with Ms. Sloane."

Noelle doesn't need to be told twice. With a hasty nod of her head and a mumbled greeting she scatters out of the room unaware of the blonde's eyes following her all the way out.

Charlie stares longingly after the dark haired, unsure what she even wants herself. Her presence would be comforting probably, she's not looking forward to facing Lowry all by herself. She isn't having the best of days either and a lecture is the last thing she needs. The last bit of comfort she gets is the bounce of Noelle's perky rear, that's become a bit of a guilty pleasure lately. All of it dissipates when she turns back to Lowry who looks less hostile than she should and more cryptic. Charlie would honestly prefer her looking downright angry, because at least she'd know what to expect from her.

Lowry gets straight to the point, luckily. "Why didn't you write your part of the assignment on your own?"

"I did." Charlie replies, her tone of voice pointedly blank.

Lowry only smiles at that. "Oh yeah? Then what made you change your opinion to oppose what you yourself wrote?" 

"We're encouraged to grow and mature in our way of thinking, aren't we?" Charlie counters, lips tugged amusedly to the side.

"That you are." Lowry agrees with a laugh. "But going from an original, audacious hypothesis to one that has been recited by writers and critics for years, isn't what I'd call growth."

Charlie doesn't say anything at that, gaze unconsciously slipping away from Lowry's face and down to the desk. She simply keeps on staring at it as if it's the most interesting thing she's ever had the chance of coming cross, until Lowry takes the hint.

The brunette lets out a sigh before speaking. "Listen, Charlie, I know you will graduate whether or not you get good grades on this course. And I know you have a job waiting for you fresh out university. I can understand why that would make you stop trying altogether. I mean, why bother right? Since everything's sorted."

The blonde looks up to her with newfound rage, a murderous glint in her eyes, but she keeps her mouth stubbornly shut. As much as she doesn't like to hear it, it seems like Lowry actually has a point to make.

"What happened? Do you realize how much you've changed since your first year here?" The look on her face has turned to a solemn one. "You barely even show up now. And whenever you do, you never pay attention. I used to see so much potential in you, it felt like you actually wanted to be here. You talked in every class and handed your assignments in first."

The anger subdues and soon leaves space for shame, recoiling at the pit of her stomach and urging bile to rise up. Nothing of that sort happens, the burden of it remains clogged inside her and it weighs down her chest like a ton of bricks. It doesn't feel good, having your own bullshit thrown back at you. No, actually, it's pretty fucking humiliating and she'd just like to get it over with.

"I know you don't like hearing this, but you need to be reminded why you enrolled here in the first place." Her tone takes gentler notes the longer she speaks. "I paired you with Noelle because she's top of the class and she doesn't even need this course to graduate. You do. I thought pairing you with her would make you competitive, like earlier in the debate. But instead, you had her do the whole assignment. I don't need her to prove herself, I know what she's worth. I need you to prove yourself, for your own self first, and then everyone else."

By that time Charlie's gaze has dropped again, with little to no intentions of looking back up. She gets it, she really does, but there's nothing she can say to defend herself that doesn't sound inherently stupid. She can't tell Lowry about the fight she had to put up to even start attending university there, and she can't tell her that the job waiting for her has little to do with what she is studying and nowhere near what she wants to do with her life.

Charlie can't say none of it aloud because no one would really understand. It's easy to think that you can go against what your family wishes and pursue what you heart desires instead, but in reality the problem runs much deeper. She's nowhere near ready to be cut off financially, since the emotional side isn't covered in the first place. And she can't even imagine just how hard it'd be for her to go through with life, without the obvious advantages that come with being part of a high end family. She's gone her whole life relying on said privileges and always getting her way, that going against her family doesn't even register as an option.

"Well, it's too late now." Charlie mutters dejectedly, head still hanging low. "It's my last year, there's nothing I can do."

Lowry shakes her head fervently. "Nonsense. You have a whole year ahead. You can recuperate on things you've overlooked and learn new things as well. If you do really well, I can recommend you to an art's programme over the summer and you will gain a good deal of experience too. It might not seem like all that much time but you'll know a lot more than you do right now."

Charlie knows she should feel at least somewhat hopeful, the fact that it comes from a professor alone should make that suggestion more valid. But she doesn't, for the simple fact that she's long since made peace over her lack of saying and ability to make choices on her own. It'd be hypocritical of her to make herself seem despaired when it comes to it, not when she lives an overly comfortable life in the meanwhile. She still finds herself smiling and nodding along, something she's become dauntingly good at lately, especially in the aspect of making it believable.

Lowry smiles as well, all sweet and comforting and it's the clear good intention behind it that makes Charlie feel all sorts of sick. Still, she can feel the finality in the other's words, meaning that it's possibly as far as the conversation will go and starts making tentative steps backwards. The brunette seems to note that, because she gives a nod, as if assuring her on such fact. It's only by the time that Charlie's at the doorway that she goes to speak up again.

"Almost forgot. I think it'd be a good idea to have someone tutor you on the meantime. Fill you in on what you might have missed. A few times a week maybe, or as much as you think it's necessary. I can ask Noelle for you if you'd—"

"It's alright. I can ask her myself." Charlie disrupts in a gentle manner, throwing in an easy smile and a hasty greeting before walking out the door and closing it behind herself.

There's no way she'll ask Noelle about it. She's perfectly capable of studying by herself, if she deems it necessary at this point and she won't give Noelle Gaspard the chance to be in a position to be able to reject her. She'd keel over and die before giving that rude, ridiculously attractive bitch the pleasure, there's no way—


	2. Chapter 2

The wonder surrounding Charlie's near perfect attendance for a while now starts to dissipate, as most things do. Noelle gets that, why would she not want to attend a prestigious university of arts after all. Even for someone who could get into any school they wanted, it should be a big deal. Money and influence can take you so far, you have to have a little special something on your own. And Charlie Sloane did have just that, if word in the wind about her being a gifted painter accounted for something.

Initially Noelle guessed that she was a literature or philosophy major since they shared Lowry's class and another of similar nature. It was near the end of her first year that she learned her major to be none other than liberal arts. Creative writing and general culture classes were only obligatory for her because it was believed that they enriched the artistic spirit and gave the artist a wider worldview to immerse into their art. As much as Noelle didn't understand their reasoning, she was simply glad neither of them affected her chances at graduating.

Back to Charlie Sloane. Now, although Noelle can understand why she's suddenly all over the school, she can't for the life of her make sense of why the blonde is there in the library, in the same moment that she is. Granted, several other students are there too, but what matters to her is that she is, and Charlie is too. She has every right to be, even if Noelle has never really seen her there before ; she'd know, it is her safe haven after all. As cliche as it may sound, Noelle prefers the near deserted area to her place, where Isabelle and Annie would most definitely rope her into a game of cards or any new tv series to watch.

Without risking to sound dramatic, Noelle has seen just about enough of Charlie and she'd very much prefer to have her few hours of human isolation in peace. Which is exactly why, soon after spotting the blonde, she leaves her seat and gets lost in between rows of shelves. Well, lost wouldn't be the right word. All she can do is take a look around and see that she's at the 'D' section and though she already left a book back at the reading table, there's no harm in picking out another. Near the end of the aisle, her gaze remains on Dostoevsky and she mindlessly picks out Crime and Punishment. She's already read it but it's been a while since she got back to it. And she should at least have a book at hand when she emerges from the shadows. Well, if she emerges. It all depends on just how soon Charlie takes her leave.

She's casually strolling over to the next row, 'E' and 'F' section when a familiar blonde head appears at the end of the aisle and it's about all it takes for Noelle to pivot on her heel and get the hell away. It's sort of ridiculous because her heart rate picks up and she has to constantly remind herself that she isn't being chased down. But she takes the back passage all the way, until she ends up at the very last of rows, where newspapers and all sorts of articles are stored. It doesn't take long for her to start feeling incredibly stupid about the way she's acting and a quick look at the route she followed and the other end as well, confirm that the blonde is nowhere in sight. She probably picked a book and left, as a normal person would and Noelle is there making a fool of herself for absolutely no reason.

Well, she might as well put the book back where it came from since she doesn't need it for show. She takes the upfront route this time, mentally berating herself in a hundred different ways and paying little to no attention to where she's going. What was it that she picked out again? Right, Dostoevsky's. Well, the 'D' is further down the room so—what the—

Noelle bodily jerks a step or two back at the sudden appearance of an intrusion in her way, one she couldn't have possibly missed if she had looked up in time. But she's certainly looking up now, meeting a wide grin and crinkled eyes that are looking down at her mockingly. There's little mockery in her sweet grin and more amusement but Noelle just knows she's enjoying being able to incite such reaction from her. She's Charlie Sloane, she has to.

"Noelle." The blonde goes in an acknowledging manner, head bowing only slightly though it's probably to hide her smile.

"Sloane." She's aware of just how wary her voice sounds but she can't help it around her, out of all people.

Charlie notices it and only chuckles. It takes a split second for her to think of anything else to say. "What have you got there?"

The head motion towards the book she's holding makes Noelle lift it into plain sight unconsciously. "Just Dostoevsky."

"Ah, should've guessed you're into realism." Charlie notes with a light laugh. "You tore Mersault to shreds."

Noelle doesn't know what to say to that. No, scratch that, why is Charlie trying to converse with her in the first place? Their last real talk was the debate, before that there was a threat and even before that there was Noelle's little outburst. They never really talked beside these occassions ; she won't count snide remarks and monosyllabic replies as actual conversation. And it all the more reinforces the idea that rationally, what is happening right there and then shouldn't be happening.

But then again, it's probably a good thing that accusations come naturally to her when the other is involved because at least now she has something to say. "What was with the stunt you pulled at Lowry's?" She starts walking then, gaze no longer on the blonde but she can feel her follow suit. "We had the same assignment. What were you thinking going against me?"

She hears the blonde snort out a short laugh. "I didn't really care what Lowry'd think about it." There's a slight pause as if she's contemplating on what to say next. "And it's the only way I can get you to talk to me, apparently."

Noelle actually stops in her tracks for a moment, just to throw a baffled look at the blonde because that was nowhere near the answer she was expecting. Why would she even need a reason to talk to her? All along the younger thought they had a mutual agreement to ignore each other's existence, and now she finds out that it's only true on her end. What kind of mind game is she playing at? Something doesn't feel right.

The dark haired refrains from giving her the answer she may be looking for, instead choosing to give a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders before moving onward. She hoped it'd be somewhat of a clear hint for the other to leave her alone but instead the blonde is hot on her heels as she makes for the 'D' section to return the book. With another book at hand already, it's not that likely she'll ever get to rereading it. It's exactly when she puts the book back in its place, feeling the other's gaze persistent on her face, that the intruder speaks up.

"Will you tutor me?"

It throws Noelle off for a second there, but many things she says do just that, as it seems. She turns to look at her, confusion and exasperation probably etched all across her features, while the blonde looks particularly calm. She's leaning her upper body's weight against the shelves, arms crossed over her chest and the look on her face is pointedly blank. Noelle can't for the life of her figure out if she's being honest or just messing with her.

"For what?" Noelle questions, eyebrows furrowed and tone rich in bewilderment. She has the constant urge to get as far away from her as humanly possible but at the same time she's oddly curious about what the other wants to say.

"For Lowry's." The blonde replies tediously, as if the answer is more than obvious. She's growing restless, Noelle can tell by the way she shifts her weight from the shelves to her feet and so on. The mere thought of asking Noelle that, seems to taking a lot from her and the younger can't say she isn't enjoying it a little.

The dark haired makes a sound of realisation at that. "Is that what Lowry held you back for? She suggested it, right?" Of course she did, Noelle thinks, walking down the aisle again. As if the blonde would ever think of asking her for help on her own. It'd be too much of a fatal hit for her ego. Hell, Noelle can't even believe she's actually going through with it right now.

"Yeah, among other things." She hears half the sentence from behind her, until Charlie catches up and comes up to her side.

Noelle has barely reached the end of the aisle when suddenly the blonde blocks her way. She has the urge to jump back again but instead of surprise, she looks up at the blonde in annoyance and expectancy. The catch is that the blonde looks exactly so on her own, both eyebrows raised in an enquiring manner.

"What?" The dark haired finds herself saying defensively. The fact that the blonde towers her by near a head doesn't help her quest to sound or look intimidating, so there's really not much she has going on for her.

"So?" The blonde urges, head moving along."Will you do it?"

Noelle instantly makes a face at that. "No." Is all she exclaims, making it sound like the most obvious answer. She takes a step back for good measure as she does so, only then realising just how close they were standing.

"Why not?" Charlie prompts, sounding just as exasperated as the prior, stepping forward with every step the other takes back.

"I owe you nothing." Noelle counters frigidly. "You made me waste time with a whole assignment and threatened to have me expelled otherwise. You're seriously asking more from me?"

Charlie only scowls. "I wouldn't have really done it. All I wanted was to get back at you for snapping at me like that in the—"

"You deserved it though—"

"—alright I sort of did. And you're pretty much untouchable because all the teachers love you, especially Madame." She explains in a solemn tone. "There's no way I could've done it."

Noelle doesn't look any convinced. "Well I wouldn't know. And I don't know you either. At all." Because honestly, what the hell does she know about Charlie Sloane? That's she's filthy rich, horribly stuck up and living in a bubble? That's next to nothing. Noelle seriously doubts there's more to her personality than that, but she's certain the blonde has all sorts of skeletons hiding in her closet all the same. It's nothing she wants to be a part of.

"You could get to know me." Charlie muses, a suggestive smile tugging at her lips as her eyebrows wiggle playfully.

There's something about the way she says it that has a distinct warmth spreading through her like wildfire. Noelle feels it crawl up her neck uncomfortably and the way her heart rate follows with haste is all about she can take. "What makes you think I would want that?" Her words take flight because she's moving past her as she says them, possibly not the smartest move she could've made. Charlie could even go as far as to think that it affected her in some type of way. Which it did, but she doesn't need to know that.

"Well, why not? I'm a delight." Charlie jokes, trailing not too far after her. "I'm more than just a tall, gorgeous blonde, you know? There's more to me than what meets the eye."

Noelle makes a sound that's somewhere between a scoff and a chuckle and if that doesn't explain exactly how conflicted she's feeling right in that moment then she doesn't know what does.

"And we can meet up whenever you're free, I really don't mind. It could be here, or my place or your place, it doesn't—"

"It's not happening." Noelle cuts her off, her tone of voice is rather decisive and she hopes the other can hear the finality as clear as day in it.

And she does, judging by the way her expression falters. She looks like she wants to say something, but her mouth closes as soon as it flies open and Noelle starts feeling that she went the wrong way about this. There's nothing more she wants to say, and subconsciously she keeps looking past the blonde because she's itching to get away, non confrontational as ever.

Charlie breaks the tense silence with a humourless chuckle. "Wow. You really don't leave any room for guessing, huh?"

Noelle is trying her hardest not to let it waver her, by reminding herself just how many times the other has wronged her in a way or another, just how badly she has treated her but she's awfully weak-hearted all the same. There's no way she could keep that going for too long.

With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, Noelle relents. "I'm not doing it but I'll find someone for you." Yeah, that might just do it.

Charlie barely perks up, expression growing only slightly less grim. "And why not just do it yourself while you're at it?"

"Because I owe you nothing and I'm already doing too much by offering to find someone for you." Noelle counters, crossing her arms over her chest almost petulantly.

The blonde finally breaks out in a grin."Alright, fair enough." She says with a nod of her head, and for the first time since what felt like forever, she starts taking steps backwards. "Don't take too long though. I need one soon." And there she is, back to being playfully arrogant. Noelle learns not to take it seriously from the smile she's wearing. "And she better be good. Like really good."

"What is this? Build-a-tutor?" Noelle huffs out, rolling her eyes at the way she's still trying to give out orders even if she doesn't have the upper hand. "I'm not limiting myself to girls only."

"But I am limiting you." Charlie counters, a satisfied smirk on her lips. "It better be a girl or I'm coming to bother you again." She gives a finger gun salute also, as some sort of greeting while the other simply waves her off.

Noelle just can't believe her luck. By the time she goes back to her desk, she's neither in the mood for reading or doing anything else really. So she simply picks her things up and signs the leave form for the book before leaving the place altogether. It's been a long day and it somehow feels a lot longer after the strange bout of interaction that Noelle'd gladly never have to repeat again.

  
`°`°`°`°`

"Whose party was it again?"

Noelle near topples over while trying to tie her shoelaces on air, relying solely on one leg for support. She gives up at the second attempt and simply bends over, still awaiting an answer from one of her two housemates.

"John Alex's, I think." Isabelle is the one to reply, by the time Noelle has finished the task at hand and is standing straight.

Her gaze meets Isabelle's over the mirror's reflection, the one she's standing in front as she applies red lipstick. "How are we associated to those people?" The dark haired wonders, trying to find a link between them and the contemporary dancer.

She's talked to him a few times at most, since they share several classes but he mainly sticks to his clique. He's surprisingly good at ballet, but contemporary and hip-hop are mainly his element. Beside dancing, he's infamous for throwing wild parties that often end with cops at his front door and on more than one occassion, people hospitalized from alcohol poisoning or minor injuries.

"We aren't." Isabelle gives a shrug of her shoulders. "Everyone goes to his parties, you don't need invitations or something."

"Yes, but will we know anyone in there?" Noelle presses, because she's been awoken from an afternoon nap for this and this party better be the best thing to have ever happened. Admiteddly, it was kind of idiotic to think of taking a nap at 6 pm but she was tired and Madame had them work a little harder than usual that afternoon so really, can you blame her?

"Does it matter?" Annie chimes in with a laugh, emerging from the bathroom then, when Noelle could've sworn she was still in the hallway with them just moments ago.

Noelle rolls her eyes and shrugs, before leaning back against the door frame, to support her upper body's weight. "I guess not."

"And why are you dressed like that?" Annie's remark follows suit, a look of displeasure twisting her features.

The dark haired looks at what she's wearing self-consciously. Is there anything particularly wrong with a plain black tee tucked in distressed whitewashed jeans? She doesn't think so.

"I didn't want to go. I'd rather be asleep. And I'm not looking to get laid." The dark haired drones monotonously, as if listing off the most mundane of tasks and her housemates start laughing.

"Why not?" Isabelle teases, moving away from the mirror to face her. "It's been a while since Kennedy."

Noelle scowls, not appreciating the reminder. "It's been like three months." Even if it felt like an eternity sometimes. There are times she misses her, misses the way things used to be, but it's only for a few wistful moments because she doesn't allow her thoughts to trail any further. Theirs wasn't meant to last and it was rather foolish for both of them to keep holding on, hurting each other further in the process. It was a pill hard to swallow, that some flings are meant to be just that and not grow into an established relationship.

"Yeah, but by the end all you did was fight." Annie retorts, tone aptly void of emotion. "I doubt you were getting laid by then."

"Oh I was." Noelle muses slyly. "Make up sex. A whole lot of it."

That has her housemates laughing, hoots and hollers of surprise echoing throughout the hallway. Noelle joins shortly after, pushing off the door frame when Isabelle playfully shoves at her shoulder. It's not long after that the door is flung open and they walk out, leaving Annie to have it locked as the last in line. The bouts of laughter follow along the hallways of the floor, bouncing off the walls and dying down in corners.

"That's arguably the best kind of sex. The anger fuel makes the best sex drive." Isabelle agrees solemnly, head nodding along to her words, but it's obvious she's near breaking out into a fit of laughter again.

"Speaking of sex." Annie sounds from behind them. "Is the ban still a thing? Can we bring people home?"

"Absolutely not." Noelle exclaims, a chortle sounding shortly after. "I still have war flashbacks from last time."

"Agreed." Isabelle goes, a giggle laced to her words. "You all know the rules. Send a text to the group chat if you're going to get laid and leave their house early in the morning."

Noelle raises a hand comically, as if to solemnly swear. "I can assure you right now, I'm not planning on getting laid."

"It's too early to speak." Annie argues with a sneaky grin. "You are still mad pretty, even if you dress like that."

Isabelle's laughing hysterically, and Annie's giggles linger in the air as she dashes forward, with Noelle hot on her heels, arms reaching out to smack her somewhere, somehow, but she's laughing too.

They share a cab to the house party, about a quarter of an hour from were they live. In reality, it takes a bit longer than that but only because it's a Friday and the streets are packed with cars and people. Noelle doesn't mind, in fact she spends most of the ride looking out the window, gaze marvelling at the busy streets and joyous crowds. It all seems to be moving by too fast, moments passing in a whim, though they do spend quite some time stuck in traffic. There's a different sort of air in the city center at nighttime, one that engulfs your senses with the oddest of comfort, providing a sense of belonging for the fickle spirited. She wouldn't dream of living anywhere near though, the raucous possibly stretching up to the early morning hours and it doesn't sound ideal for a sleep lover such as herself.

The party makes itself heard before even coming into plain sight. That alone should be enough of an indication on just how loud the party can get, even if it's still pretty early on. They jump out of the cab, Isabelle lingering behind to pay the fare while the other two peer up at the tall building, lights bolting out from the penultimate floor. The music is booming, enough so that even the building seems to be vibrating because of it, though Noelle knows it's nowhere near possible.

They don't talk much going up, maybe a comment or two about who could be attending and a strategy on how to manouver at the party. Said plan is simple ; get drinks, stick together, part ways upon meeting a subject of interest, get home safe. The end. It can't be predicted just how much they'll stick to the plan but Noelle knows she'll do her best to come out of it unscathed.

If the party sounded outrageous from the outside, it's nothing compared to being at the heart of it. It's not just the music, it's the massive flows of people, blinking lights that are near blinding and a mixture of scents that are rearing close to nauseating ; if there was a name for perfume mixed with cheap liquor and all sorts of bodily odours, she'd make sure to pin that on it. There's no other way to describe it rather than overwhelming at every sense. Noelle's half certain she can get drunk by simply being there, let alone actually conceding at consuming alcohol. Not that she's thinking of doing so, her alertness derived by sobriety is the only thing she has to cling onto in this uncharted territory.

She loses sight of both Annie and Isabelle about twenty minutes in and she's nowhere as surprised as she should be. A moment they were at her side and the next they were swallowed by the incoming tides and currents of people. She considers setting out to look for them but she figures it'd be much easier to slip away and head home if they weren't around. Still, since she's currently there, she might as well pretend to be in on things and at least try to enjoy herself somehow. A drink's what her mind instantly pans over to, it doesn't have to necessarily alcoholic just high in sugar and possibly fizzy. And if she's lucky, she might just find a place quiet enough to gather her thoughts, the roof probably. Since they're on the penultimate floor, there should surely be access to the roof.

Noelle finds herself elbowing and shouldering past people to get to the intended destination. Being there alone feels like a breath of fresh air, though the party is still happening very close by. Her breathing pattern is finally regulated and her heartbeat rate starts assuming a healthy rhythm. Suddenly she can't remember how she was even roped into going there. All she can recall is losing sleep just as the lights turned on and muted conversation filtered inside her bedroom, before someone was shaking her shoulders and reciting something unintelligible. Noelle can't quite figure why they couldn't just let her sleep, but apparently they thought she'd be missing out on something big by not going with them.

The dark haired's gaze flicks through different sorts of drinks as she stands in front of the refrigerator, contemplating on what she feels more like drinking. She has only just closed the refrigerator with a carton of chocolate milk at hand when the kitchen's door, that she'd made sure to close after herself, flies open. Noelle's not tempted to turn and see who it is ; it's not her party and she couldn't care any less. Besides, she can't be the only wanting to grab a drink.

"Noelle."

It's the flicker of recognition that comes with it that makes her turn around so fast her neck near suffers a spasm. Charlie stands there tall and proud, backed up against the closed door with a grin on her mouth. "The last person I expected to see here."

Noelle makes sure to give her an unimpressed look before she turns away, unlatching the straw from the carton and sticking it inside the designated space. As much as she hopes the blonde will somehow decide to leave as she sucks merrily on the drink, she knows better than that. It comes as little of a surprise when she feels footsteps making for her general direction.

"Is that chocolate milk?" Charlie snorts from beside her, leaning back on the counter side next to the faucet.

Noelle herself is somewhere off center, lower back digging into the couner island less than a metre away from where the blonde is standing. She angles her head enough for the other to see her raised eyebrows, as if urging her to say something about it. The taller doesn't, a smile remaining perched on her lips, so Noelle looks away once again.

The silence that ensues is awkward to say the least, the muffled music in the background partly managing to drown the suction noises she's making with her drink. Charlie's gaze stays fixated on her profile, Noelle can near feel it digging holes into her skin. But she stubbornly says nothing, that might just bore the blonde out of her damned mind and make her finally leave.

"I don't think Marlene will want to tutor me again." But she's learned to say the right things to get Noelle to react.

Noelle near chokes on her drink. "What did you do?" She snaps, eyes narrowing at the blonde who looks all sorts of satisfied.

The blonde giggles merrily. "I told her, and get this.." She pauses intentionally, to create suspense. "..that I didn't want her to tutor me anymore."

The dark haired scoffs in irritation as the other keeps laughing. "Why the hell would you do that? She's perfect." Noelle can't believe she went the extra mile to ask Marlene for a favor, only to have the beneficiary herself decide to blow it.

"She's pretty, I'll give you that." Charlie agrees faux solemnly. "But she was no fun and very straight. I couldn't look past that."

The younger rolls her eyes, before rubbing her temples harshly. "She's just supposed to tutor you, not fuck you." She doesn't hold back on the brazen tones, because it's probably the only thing that can get through the other's thick skull.

"I can have some fun while I am at it, can't I?" The blonde leers, a lascivious smirk on her lips. "For your information I don't get fucked. I do the fucking. Do I look like a sub to you? This…" She makes a point of motioning head to toe with her hands. "…is all dom material. I like having my women under me."

It's the first time she's heard the blonde speak so explicitly and it shows in the way her face flames up instantly. Noelle can't figure out where the hell she finds the audacity to talk like that to one that she barely has any relations with. While she isn't entirely too vanilla, there are things she definitely doesn't need to know.

"That was a lot of unnecessary information." Noelle notes, barely refraining from physically cringing, though her heart rate's long since taken a toll and an uncomfortable heat has spread through her.

"Was it?" Charlie presses, a grin as suggestive as it is promising stretching at her lips. "Was it really unnecessary?"

Noelle brushes past her on her way out. "Marlene was your last chance and you blew it. I'm not doing you any more favors."

"Why are you being so difficult about this?" The voice trails after her. "You could just tutor me yourself and get it over with."

"I did my part. I asked someone for you." Noelle goes, without turning to look at her. "Now it's your turn to leave me alone."

Charlie swiftly moves past her, turning at the last instant to back up against the door and face the younger. "I never said I'd leave you alone. I'm pretty sure I said I'd bother you again if I wasn't satisfied with your choice. And clearly, I'm not." Her tone could imply some sort of seriousness but there are hints of playfulness in her expression, blatantly taunting the dark haired.

Noelle sighs, shoulders slumping. "Isn't this getting tiring?"

"Yeah, isn't it?" Charlie echoes with intent. "You should just agree already."

"I was fine with seeing you once a month. Now I get to see you everyday. Adding odd hours to that doesn't sound appealing to me." Noelle clarifies in a deadpan tone of voice, but she sounds perfectly decisive all the same.

Surprisingly, the blonde only laughs. "Wow, you really have a problem with me, huh?" But it sounds filtered somehow, as if she's hiding a different sentiment behind it.

"Props on the intuition." Noelle taunts sarcastically, ignoring the nagging feeling she gets from her gut that she's behaving like someone she doesn't know herself to be.

"You're not even giving me a chance here." A chuckle follows her words but Noelle thinks she can detect dejection as well, that for some reason doesn't comfort her as it probably should.

The dark haired doesn't know what to say to that. Instead, she crosses her arms over her chest and stands her ground, averting her gaze everywhere that isn't in the blonde's general direction.

A distinct noise is what makes her look at the blonde, and then at the blonde's hands, as she locks the door and slides the key out, holding it up like some sort of achievement. Noelle looks back up at her face, the smirk she's wearing promises nothing good.

"What are you doing?" Noelle wonders and there's the slightest bit of alarm in her tone because it looks like she's locking them in, but it can't be it. That would be plain ridiculous.

"You've made me chase you long enough." Charlie notes in a cryptic manner, eyeing at the keys in her hold as they dangle and then looking down at the dark haired.

"What are you tal—"

"I won't let you run away this time." The blonde continues with her train of thought, acting as if she didn't hear her at all. The smile on her lips is wicked sweet and from that alone Noelle should've been able to guess what was about to happen.

Her eyes widen comically, mouth falling agape as the keys are tossed right out the window with a simple flick of the blonde's wrist. She lets out a gasp and she may or may not have shrieked out of sheer surprise and horror. A beat later she's chasing the trajectory that the keys followed, perched up on the window sill, but it's useless, because she can neither see them nor hear the landing thud. It's pretty dark outside and the raucous from the party outside the door make both actions impossible. Not that either would make a difference, she's stuck in a room with the menace nonetheless.

"Are you out of your mind?" She snaps at her as she moves away from the window and the blonde is still by the door, not looking fazed at the slightest but more so infuriatingly satisfied.

"Just a little." Charlie humours her, the corners of her mouth quirked up and it's after she fixes the younger with a stare that she makes to move away from that position.

Noelle on her own doesn't appreciate feeling helpless, so she gets moving, looking around as if it'll help her figure anything out. She makes for a door at her right, suddenly feeling stupid that she hadn't noticed it before. Her relief proves shortlived because it's apparently locked, and it won't budge no matter how hard she pulls at the handle. Charlie gives a chuckle then, looking inherently amsued and Noelle's guess is that she must have known as much.

"That's the only way to the roof. Johnny keeps it locked because he doesn't want anyone going up there." Charlie provides a bit of a back story that Noelle didn't ask for and certainly could've gone her whole life without needing to know.

She only shoots the blonde a glare and makes for the rows of cabinets. It's not unusual for people to keep extra pairs of keys in drawers. That's where their kitchen keys reside at home because they've never been put to use. She feels Charlie move as she's going through the third drawer, but since she moves past her and doesn't stop in her vicinity, she doesn't bother looking up. Noelle fears she might start seeing red and harm the other, because oh god, what kind of dumbass would lock them in for no—

"Looking for these?" Charlie pipes up, tone as teasing as ever and just as Noelle looks over to her, she reaches for the top of the cupboard, taking hold of a pair of keys. The younger stares at her through narrowed eyes as the keys clank merrily in her hand.

Not that it's of any comfort, but Noelle wouldn't have been able to reach up there even if she'd thought of it as an option. Stifling an urge to slap the stupid grin off her pretty face, the dark haired looks away, closing the cabinet doors and the drawers she very unceremoniously snatched open. As that is done with, she heads for the door, slapping her palm repeatedly against the darkwood and attempting to shout over the loud music.

"Hello? I'm locked in! Someone get me out!" 

There's obvious commotion from the other side but no implication that anyone intercepted her cries for help.

She repeats the action a few more times, knocking with her fist and shouting louder, but no one comes to her rescue. The music keeps playing, just to taunt her, buzzing off the walls and through the cracks at the door frame. She grows even more frustrated with every moment that passes and she might just go ahead and body slam against it until the door flies off its hinges.

"Hey." Charlie calls for her attention at some point and Noelle only turns because for a second there, she thought the blonde might actually take pity on her and toss her the keys.

Instead, she's boldly smirking, arms crossed behind her head and legs lightly parted. "Guess where I hid it." Her eyebrows wiggle along with her words, grin as suggestive as ever and Noelle for a second there honest to god contemplates throwing her out of the window along with the damned keys.

She doesn't deign her with a reaction, turning her back to her and trying her luck again with the imbeciles on the other side of the door. Her knuckles redden from the force she keeps banging them against the door with and it's another few moments later that she considers bashing her head against it. Someone'll want to grab a drink at some point, right? Then again probably not because the preferred drinks were sitting outside in coolers. Or maybe they'd want to wash off vomit or liquor off their clothes. On a second thought, that could be better off done in the toilet. Noelle starts thinking of the long few hours ahead, with nothing but Charlie Sloane's company, the same person she has so avidly tried to ignore for weeks.

Maybe she's hid them somewhere convenient, Noelle tries futilely to comfort herself. She's kind of an idiot, she might still have them at hand for all she knows. With a deep sigh and a string of muttered curses, the dark haired turns around and carefully walks over to the meance, as if approaching a wild animal. She meets her eyes for a second, before her gaze trails to the widening grin and then going off tangent, over to the walls and cupboards. She's actually doing this, she's actually playing along to Charlie Sloane's stupid games. God, just how much lower can she possibly stoop.

Noelle meets her eyes again when they're a mere arm's length apart, hoping they'll give something away. But she looks rightly delighted, eyebrows moving up and down and grin stretching from ear to ear. There isn't much to pick out from the look on her face rather than she has absolutely no qualms about urging the other to feel her up. Madness, absolute madness.

The dark haired goes for the shoulders first for some reason, cradling them around the ruffles created by the dress shirt she's wearing. "Cold." The blonde goes and for a moment Noelle can not possibly figure how that correlates to anything, so she pays her no mind. She moves on to the length of her crossed arms and the back of her head where they're resting for support.

"Colder." Charlie supplies and it's only then that Noelle realises she's being given hints. Damn it, she actually thought the other would be idiotic enough to still be holding on to them.

Noelle slides her hands down, back to her shoulders before switching to the backs of her hands to pat down her chest without particularly lingering anywhere. "Why are you frisking me like the lady at the airport?" Charlie snorts. "Warm."

The dark haired rolls her eyes, switching back to her palms as she slides her hands down the girl's waist and stomach, feeling the other's gaze follow her every movement. "Warmer." She can hear the voice closer now, hot breath fanning somewhere at the top of her head. "You sure you don't want to check in the back?"

Noelle barely has the chance to look up to her and see if she's actually being serious because a pair of hands engulf her own and guide them right into her buttocks. The action presses them impossibly close, chests and groins joined, Noelle's chin digging somewhere between her collarbones. The younger looks up all dazed and wide eyed, meeting a gaze that suddenly seems much darker. "Found anything?" The blonde has dipped her head a tad as well, and though they're nowhere near the same eye level, she can feel the words leaving imprints of breaths somewhere at the joint between her eyebrows.

The dark haired retracts her hands the moment Charlie lets go of them, cheeks burning and heart beating uneasily against her ribcage. She could try and open her mouth for a retort, an insult, anything really, but she knows all that'll come out is a jumbled mess of stammered words so she says nothing. "You're getting warmer though." The blonde encourages as if to redeem herself for overstepping a boundary. And that's the thing really, Noelle should be feeling angry, offended, indignated but whatever she's feeling in that moment veers nothing close to either.

And Noelle could stop, whenever, stick to a corner of the room until someone gets them out and keep a safe distance from the menace on the meanwhile. But in that instant, she's not certain if she wants to do just that. She doesn't know just what her drive is exactly. Curiousity? Probably. Pleasure? You'd never hear it from her. It's just a state of confusion, the mildest case of Stockholm Syndrome ever known to humanity possibly. Being trapped with someone in a confinement could lead to the arising of new and unwanted sentiments that could be nothing but frail.

Noelle refuses to look at her as she goes to dip her hands in the girl's pockets. "Hot." Charlie echoes and it takes the younger a moment to fully realise what that could imply.

But she's gone so far and embarrassed herself enough that it would barely make a difference if she backed away now. Surely two can play that game, if Charlie wants to frustrate her then Noelle can easily do the same. She brings a hand to trace at the blonde's beltline, as if testing waters, her touch barely weighing as it grazes between the jean material and leather belt.

"Hotter." It comes out breathily and Noelle would've easily missed it if it weren't for the miniscule distance between them.

The dark haired looks up to her in wonder, marvelling at the dilated pupils under hooded lids and lips only barely parted. She's curious to know just how much darker her eyes can get, how close she is for faint moans to start slipping out. It's rather dangerous getting the slightest taste of power, it strokes at the deepest human desires to conquer, control, push to the limit. Noelle hasn't even gotten close to the danger zone and Charlie is already pliant in her hold, close to breathless and at the mere mercy of her primal urges.

The younger tentatively tucks two fingers inside the band of her jeans, tugging at them only lightly. She feels the other's stomach muscles tense, her knuckles following the way it hollows a little by the strain. Only then it hits her just how serious the situation is turning, how close she is to doing something she'll later regret. It hits her like a bolt of lightning, making her impulsively retract her hands. Charlie catches on to it quickly enough, taking hold of her hands mid air, before they can come up at her sides. Both her hands are caught in one of the blonde's, guided right back to where they were, as they hold the eye contact. She uses her free hand to cup at the back of her neck and pull them closer, letting it slide at some point below the girl's jaw when she's reached her objective. Her hands aren't particularly warm but Noelle feels the touch burn her skin, a perfectly pleasant singe.

She lets go of Noelle's hands when she's certain she won't attempt to pull them away again, other hand coming up to cup her jaw as well. The action encourages her head to tilt upwards, keeping the eye contact constant and inevitable. Their mouths are inches apart, and she can the blonde's ragged breathing on her lips. Noelle's fairly sure she's trembling inch to inch, limbs seconds away from giving way.

"Stop overthinking." Charlie coaxes in a whisper, hands moving lightly in an almost caressing motion, a thumb darting out to tug at her bottom lip. Noelle feels her breath hitch at that and she's painfully rooted to the spot. A little voice at the back of her head tells she wouldn't move even if she could but she ignores it.

The blonde leans in and Noelle's eyelids flutter shut by instinct, feeling a tender ghost of a kiss pressed at the corner of her lips. They open the moment she starts pulling away, and their gazes align. Charlie seems to be looking for something, a form of consent probably and she finds just that because she's going in once again, shortly after. Their eyelashes tangle as their eyes close and their noses bump, but it's only until Charlie tilts her head slightly to the side. The first kiss lands smack on her lips, just a peck but much lingering as if to test waters. The second envelops the dark haired lower lip between two of the other's, making it spit slick and easier for her tongue to slip in on the third.

Up to that point, Noelle hadn't even started reacting yet, still a little shell shocked but savouring the sensations that arise. It's when the blonde's tongue traces the roof of her mouth that her lips start moving, her own tongue pressing against the other's. Their lips slide with ease, fitting and molding together as if the action was downright rightful and meant to happen, tongues in a little dance of their own, pressing tip to tip, writhing and overlapping. Charlie sucks eagerly at her lips, reserving a nip and tug specially for the plumper bottom one, that incites the slightest of sounds from the younger. It's not long before her tongue slips between the other's lips and she detects hints of liquor at the corners. Noelle could keep going for hours, until the pulse on her chest matches another down south, until it gets to the point that she absolutely has to do something about it.

A wake up call comes in the form of nimble fingers chasing a trail up her spine and rationally she should've felt something earlier because she distinctly remembers having tucked her t-shirt into her jeans. She's suddenly hyperaware of her hands trapped between their bodies and she makes an attempt to move them, something that Charlie aids with by pulling away slightly. Her hands come up to the blonde's beltline, making the latter sigh into her mouth, and for a split second Noelle figures that's exactly why she conceded and moved a bit. But the dark haired has grown lucid and has little intentions of giving her what she wants. Her fingers feel around the jean material for a while and then slip under, wandering until they come into contact with a strip of lace.

Noelle nearly panicks for a moment and abandons her quest all at once, but a material harder than the rest makes her stop. Of course she'd have the keys tucked at the band of her underwear. What else could be expected of her? She makes room for the keys to slip out easily and pulls away just as they're in her hold. Consequently, the kiss breaks and she's stuck looking at the blonde's eyelids fluttering open, a certain confusion wedged between her eyebrows and her mouth looking reddened, very invitingly so. The dark haired doesn't know what higher force holds her back from lunging at her with all her might.

Charlie goes to lean in again, the lust possibly having clouded her judgement enough not to make her realise what is about to happen. The younger is quick to back away, hand flying up to showcase her conquest, that clank between them as they move. The blonde looks even more confused if possible, as if she can't make any sense of what is going on. Noelle doesn't give her the timespace to react, moving swiftly past her and towards the door, her hands shaking as she jams the key into the lock.

The blonde calls her name out once, twice, another time when Noelle storms out of there, but she doesn't follow after her. The episode must've been astounding enough to still her in place and Noelle can't decide if she's thankful or deterred by that. All she knows is that the music is too loud, there are too many people in her way and her heart might just pounce out of her chest anytime now. And she can't breathe, she can't fucking breath—


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw the song mentioned is skin - rihanna

Noelle jumps the moment a tap lands on her shoulder, turning to face the disrupter at once. Her frantic heartbeat starts soothing down the moment she spots Isabelle, with her hand suspended mid-air and Annie, both wearing puzzled looks alike.

"What's up with you? You've been looking over your shoulder all day long." Isabelle wonders, eyebrows furrowed in confusion but she's also laughing, meaning that there's barely any seriousness to her words.

Annie hums along, features perked up with interest. "Did you finally snap and dispose of Charlie Sloane in a ditch?"

Noelle's eyes widen in alarm and it's a good thing neither of them are looking at her directly in the face. "What? Why would it have anything to do with her?" She almost wants to slap herself for making it blatantly obvious that it does in fact have something to do with the blonde.

"Maybe because you said she's been bothering you lately?" It's the obvious reply that Annie gives, the question sounding less like one and more of an affirmation. "About the tutoring thing."

Right. "Oh, that." Noelle gives a light laugh in relief. "Yeah, but I haven't really seen her in a while so I guess that's done with."

"You mean you've been avoiding her." Isabelle chimes in with a knowing smile, that only grows wider as the dark haired visibly tenses at the claim.

"I haven't." The younger argues meekly, arms crossing rather defensively over her chest.

"You scurried out of the break lounge the moment she walked in." Isabelle reminds her with a self assured grin, one that Noelle can't say she appreciates in that particular instant.

"You took a ridiculously longer route to your class just because she appeared at the end of the hallway." Annie backs up the other's claim with ease. Noelle doesn't know what's so amusing about the situation for them to be grinning from ear to ear.  
  
The younger huffs impatiently. "So what? She won't take a hint and I don't look forward to talking to her. So it's obvious that I'll have to resort to drastic measures." Noelle can't help but sound indignant, not only because she's fervently hiding something but also because she isn't particularly lying. The last thing she'd want to happen is Charlie cornering her and making them talk about what happened. Now that would be a nightmare.

They remain in silence for a short while, Noelle berating herself for behaving suspiciously and the girls pondering over her words.

"Maybe you should just do it then." Isabelle notes nonchalantly, giving a light shrug as she says so. "I mean, she probably won't leave you alone unless you do, so you might as well, right?"

Noelle's expression sours up. "Why would I let her win this?"

"It's not about winning." Annie acknowledges with an airy laugh. "She can get you to do this in so many ways. I'm surprised she didn't have Lowry make you do it, for extra credit or anything."

"Are we forgetting that she threatened to have me expelled?" Noelle reminds them in a clipped tone. "And that she's just a bitch, overall? Did she become a saint all of a sudden?"

"I seriously doubt she'd have you expelled. She wouldn't be able even if she wanted to." Annie argues tersely. "And yeah, she's arrogant and stuck up but mostly I think it's just her reputation that precedes her. I don't think she's all that bad."

The dark haired stops dead on her tracks. "Did she pay you two to say good things about her all of a sudden?"

It gets them both to start laughing, Isabelle speaks up first. "She's in my marketing course and now that she's showing up, we talk sometimes. I don't know, she seems pretty nice."

"Same thing here. We have a couple art classes together and we've sat by each other a few times. I thought she was hilarious." Annie admits with a low chuckle. "And she's great at painting. It's been a few weeks now, I doubt she'd keep a facade up for that long. It's not like she cares what others think about her."

"So, I'm dealing with not one, but two backstabbing bitches." It's all the dark haired spits out, the statement more spiteful than anger ridden. But both girls are at her sides, though they're laughing, even when she marches forward in an attempt to break away.

"Come on, don't be like that." Isabelle coaxes, bumping slightly at her right side. "You should think about giving her a chance too."

Noelle scoffs harshly. "Unlike some people, I stand by the shit I say. I don't curse people out to then play buddies with them."

"We're still on your side, idiot." Annie laughs merrily. "It's just that she's nothing like anyone says. Even that tough, cold ass bitch facade she tries to keep up is all bullshit."

"You talk to her a couple of times and think you know all about her now." The younger notes, her tone disbelieving. "I happen to have a common sense and I don't trust her one bit."

They both make a few annoyed sounds at that and for a moment Noelle thinks the conversation won't go any further. That's until Isabelle takes her by the hand and literally drags her along, over to one of the benches scattered around the campus' park. Soon she's pushing her down by the shoulders, so to have her sit down before taking the seat next to her. Annie takes up the other side so she's practically caged between them.

Isabelle's hands are still on her shoulders, and by that look on her face, Noelle can expect nothing but a lecture to come up. "You know what's your problem?" There it is. "You're very quick to judge." She makes a quick motion with her head when Noelle does as much as open her mouth to argue. "You are. And you're really stubborn about it too, you refuse to let people change your mind. And don't give me that look, you know I'm—"

"It's called having a character." Noelle grumbles, but something about her tone tells the other she's barely taking any of it with a sense of seriousness.

"It's called being hard-headed." Isabelle retaliates with a blank look. "You expect everyone to say and do the right things the whole time but that's just impossible. People can be stupid and they can say stupid shit that might not sit right with you. It may be because that's just who they are, but most times there's more to it than that." She pauses for a moment, possibly to gather her thoughts or see if the dark haired is still following her.

"Why do you think Charlie's being so insistent?" She asks her then, when it's obvious that the younger has no intentions of disrupting her. "You think she can't afford someone professional to tutor her?" Noelle shakes her head with a huff of frustration. "I don't know what she has in mind, but it seems like she's trying to get close to you. Maybe she wants to make it up to you, maybe it's something else entirely, I can't tell you for sure. What I can tell is that she has no ill intentions. And you might just miss out on something good, if you don't give her a chance."

Her gaze remains on Noelle's face even as she's stopped talking, curiously studying the expressions that come and go. She looks wary for the most part, as if she can't quite wrap her head around what Isabelle's just told her and she's only contemplative at the slightest. Isabelle looks past her for a moment, giving the blonde a meaningful look that she soon reciprocates, before turning back to the dark haired. It's all it takes for her expression to close up apparently, because now she can't pick out a single sentiment from the younger. The next instant she's standing up, Isabelle's hands falling down her sides. She's barely looking at them as she adjusts the straps of her backpack.

"Where are you going?" Annie asks, eyebrows drawn in utter confusion. Isabelle looks no better, she was expecting to get a reaction or a proper answer at least.

"To class." Noelle replies distractedly, taking a discreet step back and then another. Her attempts at trying to make it look natural are futile because both girls can tell that she's probably seconds away from breaking into a sprint.

"You just finished your classes." Isabelle reminds her, making a face at the senseless excuse she managed to come up with.

"I'm going to practice." She follows up, hands flailing lightly in frustration as she spews the second best alternative. It's not what she had in mind initially, but she might as well.

Before neither of them can say anything, she throws a hasty wave of her hand and turns away. Their gazes are fixed on her back as they follow her retrieving figure, until she goes up a set of stairs and is consequently swallowed by the double doors.

"She's an idiot." Isabelle sighs dejectedly, head shaking lightly.

"Yes, but she's our idiot." Annie follows jokingly, hands clutching at her heart as she bumps shoulders with the brunette.

They're both laughing as they stand up and start making for the exit, an ever gaping mouth followed by gates at either side. It's a rather quiet walk up to the threshold, neither of them speaking up until they've left the premises.

"Something's up." Isabelle utters, sounding curiously suspicious. "We can't let her get away with it at home."

"Whatever it is, she'll need some space for now." The blonde is quick to argue. "If nothing changes, then we'll intervene."

The prospect of it makes the brunette laugh. "Where did you two put that 'Intervention' banner? You know, the one you made the third time I spent my whole salary in a day in Zara clothes." It gets them both to laugh, the mere recollection of that evening. "We could probably put that to good use."

"We should do interventions more often, it was fun." Annie nods along and she probably would have sounded solemn, if only she hadn't started laughing.

And the conversation catapults from there, less of confessions and truths and more of game shows and movie nights.

`°`°`°`°`

Noelle can feel the sweat drip in trails down her spine, pooling somewhere at the small of her back. It runs down her temples and the sides of her face in droplets, making strands of hair stick to her cheeks and neck. The clothes are sticking to her rather uncomfortably too, muscles starting to singe and ache from the constant strain. But there's a sense of liberation to it as well, the exhaustion managing to exert every thought and flimsy worry ; nothing but music playing in her head and all around her, gently guiding her limbs to move along. She's been stuck on a certain song for the past hour or so, a Rihanna song with accentuated sexual tones, that she couldn't quite get into right away.

Their instructor, Frankie, told her a few lessons back that Noelle seemed to grow more rigid at the mere thought of intimacy in a dance. Not wanting to perpetuate the myth that dancers with a ballet focus are stiff in other styles, she decided she'd work on it until she finally got it right, even if it meant endless hours in the practice room and her limbs possibly falling off. It's by the fourth try that she starts getting in the right mood and by the seventh she just can't seem to stop. She can't stop looking at the person in the mirror, entranced and enticed as if it isn't her own self she is looking at. Essentially, she knows it's her, simply a little looser on morals and veering dangerously close to unhinged.

The starting beats serve as a dose of dopamine right into her bloodstream, getting her arms and legs to move by some unknown force. Words come flooding in soon enough and they indicate most of her movements ; the hands that trail down her torso then arms that frame over her head, a leg preceding the other as a hip is jutted out. The next beat she's twirling a most un-ballet like twirl and dropping to the floor on her knees. She does a little walk towards the mirror on all fours, the action paired with a fierce expression making her look particularly dangerous, akin to a panther about to pounce at a defenceless prey.

Maintaining the position, she gives a hip roll, waist twisting and turning as she comes near to grinding the sleek hardwood floor. From there she moves her weight back on the heels of her feet, then leaning back on her hands, palms flat on the floor. It helps her hoist a leg upwards and spring into a backward somersault, landing on a half split. She brings her legs back together in slow motion and stands back up, hands traveling up her body as she does so. The upright position doesn't last long, because her legs part and knees bend in somewhat of a squat, following the trail of her hands to her knees. Her upper body rolls at that motion and it only stops when she brings her knees together. It's her heels that part a beat later, until her inner thighs are pressing against the floor. In the spirit of the song, she keeps moving in a grinding motion, thighs rubbing against the hardwood.

Her gaze flies to her reflection once again, but this time there's a new figure in her line of sight and as she tries to chase it, she meets another gaze. Her muscles lock at once and she goes rigid for a moment, blood possibly draining from her face the moment she notices none other than Charlie Sloane leaning against the wall right by the doorway. The music keeps playing and her mouth falls open slightly, but the blonde is still there, arms crossed over her chest and eyes trained on her, lips tugged with intrigue. It's only when her smirk widens and her eyebrows fly up that the dark haired manages to snap out of her trance.

Noelle springs to her feet at once before clambering over to the music player to get the music to stop playing. It's then that she feels just how harshly she's breathing and her face is burning but she doesn't know if she should pin that on the hours she spend dancing or the sudden apperance of an intruder. God, just how long has she been there watching? The thought of it makes her want to start praying for the ground to swallow her whole. The moment the music stops playing, though it's still ringing in her ears, a slow clapping echoes throughout the room and it's what gets her to turn and face the intruder.

"Damn Gaspard. That was so hot." The blonde breathes out unabashedly with a wolfish grin. "Didn't know you had it in you."

The younger didn't think she could get any redder at this point, but she can almost physically feel blotches forming on her neck and face from the utter embarrassment. It makes breathing just a little harder, as if she wasn't already struggling on her own.

"Why the hell are you creeping up on me?" Noelle snaps at her but she barely manages to sound angry, rather defensive and at best thrown off by the feeling of overexposure.

Charlie only chortles. "I was about to leave but I could hear the music from all the way down the hallway. It sounded suggestive, so I thought why not see what's going on?" She sounds perfectly amused by the situation, but the dark glint in her eyes takes the younger a few days back to their last encounter.

The dark haired only huffs out a ragged breath, an eye roll in tow, before she turns away from the blonde and makes for the lockers. Heavens knows just how badly she needs to get away but there's no way she can leave this place drenched in sweat. She could step a foot outside and instantly catch a cold from the night's chill disagreeing with her elevated body heat. She takes a towelette to bury her face in first, wiping away droplets of sweat.

"Why are still here though?" The blonde wonders, her voice sounding as if it's coming closer. "Do you know how late it is?"

"I could ask you the same thing." It comes out muffled because she doesn't move away from the towelette but it's clear enough for the other to hear.

Charlie gives a shrug. "Oh, you know how it is. I got my artist's inspiration and couldn't stop." She pauses and her expression shifts to a playful one. "You looked pretty inspired too."

Noelle drops the towelette on her bag and spares her a short unimpressed look, despite her still flaming cheeks. She doesn't even bother with saying anything, simply deciding to pick up her bag and walk away, because words probably won't get through the other either way. The dark haired doesn't head for the exit, but rather for the opposite direction. It alarms the blonde all the same.

"Where are you going? I was just messing with you." Charlie calls out after her with a cackle but she sounds curious still.

"I'll take a shower." Noelle replies without even turning to look at her. The only reason why she deigns to even answer is because she hopes the other might just decide to leave at the prospect of her lingering behind for a while. As unlikely as it seems, she'll try her luck.

"Can I join?" The brute pipes up right after, playful and teasing tones evident in her voice.

Noelle throws her one last glare over her shoulder, not quite appreciating the smirk she meets with, before turning away and pushing past the double doors that lead to the showers.

The dark haired takes her sweet time in the shower ; that, in her mind equalling higher chances for the blonde to leave. She can hear commotion for a while, probably Charlie playing with the things around the studio, but it slowly starts dying down the second time over she's scrubbing the sweat and exhaustion away. She rinses off the coconut scented foam, courtesy of the travel size bottle of shampoo she always brings with her, soon deciding on a third round of foaming just for good measure.

She steps out of the shower a significant amount of time later, the longest possible considering that she didn't even touch her hair. She pats herself down with another towel and starts slipping on fresh clothes once she's dry enough, chucking anything else back inside her bag. Noelle steps another five minutes in front of the mirror just for the sake of it, putting her hair out of the messy bun and going for a ponytail instead. She even splashes a palmful of water against her face, one that's most necessary to cool down the angry flush biting at her cheeks.

There's a lightness in her languid step as she leaves the shower stalls behind, with evident certainty that Charlie Sloane is long gone. Except, she isn't, that much becomes clear the moment she steps foot inside the studio. She's in a corner, somewhere beside the equipments' rack, messing with the stretching unit, the bands tied around her all wrong.

She perks up upon spotting the younger, a goofy grin tugging at her lips."What does this thing do?" As an afterthought, she adds. "It looks kinky." Her eyebrows wiggle suggestively at that.

Noelle rolls her eyes but walks over to her either way. She knows the other probably won't move away unless she answers her. "It's for stretching. You put your foot on that little loop there and pull at the other end as much as you can." Why is she bothering to explain? "Basically you're supposed to do half a split."

Charlie raises a leg tentatively to reach for the loop, but doesn't even get close to it. She tries another few times and misses it by several inches, leg flailing in the air for a moment just to dangle right down. It's kind of entertaining to watch, she acts just like a kid being handed a new, somewhat elaborate toy that she's too stubborn to leave without figuring out at first. It'd probably be more entertaining if she wasn't exhausted and dying to sleep.

A breathy laugh escapes her lips either way, and it's what gets the blonde to look over to her. "It's humanly impossible for any foot to go that high." She grumbles. "Care to demonstrate?"

Noelle pretends to contemplate that for a split second. "I have a better idea." Charlie's face lights up. "I'm leaving. Right now."

Without another word she turns around and starts making her way out, leaving the other behind all tangled up in the stretching bands. The blonde calls out for her to wait, but Noelle does no such thing. Instead she turns the lights off as well on her way out, just to be annoying. The double doors close behind her, the light above the door frame still blinking green. Noelle tries to imagine how hilarious it'd be if it just turned red and locked the blonde in. But she knows it's just a wishful dream because that doesn't even happen for another few hours or so.

Charlie catches up with her in record time for someone who was supposed to be tangled up with equipment that she has little to no understanding of. "Damn it Gaspard." She calls out, her voice echoing all throughout the hallways. "You don't just leave a girl hanging again." A laugh sounds shortly after because that idea amuses her apparently. "Literally and figuratively."

"Again?" Noelle echoes, the moment Charlie inevitably catches up with her. The evident advantage of having longer legs.

"Ouch." The blonde feigns a sound of distress. "I know you're not supposed to kiss and tell, but kiss and pretend it never even happened? Now that's just cruel. Even from you."

Ah, that. Noelle was hoping that wouldn't come up again, but honestly, did she actually believe that? Possibly, in a deranged part of her mind, but then again, probably not.

"That was purely circumstantial." Noelle settles for, amidst the swarm of thoughts that take up every corner of her mind.

The blonde laughs merrily. "Okay. Circumstantial, how?" She's just trying to humour her, it's obvious by the way she says it.

"You kissed me and I went along with it to get to the keys." The dark haired supplies, words coming to her as she goes and it somehow sounds even more stupid out loud.

Charlie laughs again, much louder. "You don't actually believe that, do you?" There's the slightest hint of concern in her tone.

"It's pretty much what happened, so why not?" Noelle counters with a shrug, wondering a moment later if she's just being this nonchalant because she's overly exerted enough for whatever is happening to barely even register.

She stops in her tracks when the blonde swiftly blocks her way, the scene becoming almost cliche at that point. Noelle looks up to her through halfway closed eyelids, a resigned look etched across her features to make the other realise just how badly she isn't up for it, any sort of confrontation.

"It happened, because it was supposed to happen at some point." She says loud and clear, as if it's a fact she's long since accepted and now all she has to do is make the other realise.

"Whatever helps you sl—"

"I know I'd like for it to happen again. And again. And again." With every echoe her head bows lower and leans closer, until there's a mere few inches between them and Noelle can feel Charlie's breath on her lips. And for a moment, she's leaning in, because god knows what mixed signals Noelle could be giving.

The dark haired lets sheer panic react in her stead, head moving back before she bodily moves away and past her. A bullet only narrowly dodged because all Noelle wanted to do in that instant was give in entirely. Since she couldn't that, she runs her mouth as a close second. "You can try locking us in again. But there's always the chance that I might just strangle you, so I wouldn't risk it if I were you."

"Why are you acting like this?" Charlie wonders, a light chuckle following her words but it's short and humorless. Distress and possibly dejection are what reign her tone of voice.

"I don't know what you want from me." The younger exclaims, not holding back on the exasperated tones.

"You know what I want."

Noelle actually stops, on her own accord this time. She knows Charlie's not too further behind, so she'll hear what she has to say either way. But she decides to turn despite that, not before taking a breather and rubbing a hand over her face in hopes that it might bring some common sense to her.

"Fine. I don't know why you're making such a big deal about it, but fine. I'll tutor you, I guess." Noelle breathes out, suddenly feeling as if she shed an entire burden off her shoulders. The uncomfortable clot on her chest remains, because she doesn't know what she wants and she doesn't know what she feels and it's actually been a very long day, she'd like to put an end to it.

Charlie looks at her for what feels like an eternity, before a light chuckle escapes her lips as she shakes her head. Noelle doesn't know if she looks more incredulous or despaired at her words ; Charlie Sloane is honestly a very confusing human being.

"You know it's not just about that anymore."

Noelle feels Isabelle's words come back to her, just how much they'd stung in that moment because she'd thought them over and over, only to end up dismissing them as ridiculous. Hearing it from Charlie is an entire different story, but it doesn't make any of it clearer for her. As much as Noelle would like to say that she suddenly had a moment of clearance and a definite answer made itself known, she can't. Because she's as conflicted and flawed as they come and she's thinking way too much and very little in the same breath. And she can't, she just can't.

"But it's all I'm willing to do for you."

Noelle's had the misfortune to see Charlie Sloane's face fall more times than she would like, and the fact that she's been the one to cause it, only makes it worse. She likes to think that she's a good person, but she's been seriously doubting that lately. In spite of the questionable choices Charlie has made on her own when it came to Noelle, it didn't make up excuses for her to do the same and blow it out of proportion as she went with it.

"It's better than nothing." The blonde notes after a mile long silence, followed by a laugh that's entirely out of place and the younger can't tell who she's trying to comfort exactly.

Noelle doesn't know who takes the first step but they've started walking again somehow, almost side by side. Neither of them say anything, probably because they've already said plenty and look where it got them. Still, the silence isn't exactly awkward. Just somewhat empty and expectant, for the right things to be said.

"It's raining." Noelle can't believe she's only noticing now that they're walking out of the building. The walls aren't exactly soundproof, she should've at least picked up on something and oh god, was that a fucking thunder?

"That's why I was leaving." Charlie notes casually. "Looked like a thunderstorm was about to start. Wouldn't expect you to hear any of it though, with all that loud music playing."

Noelle barely pays her any mind because all she can think of is how the hell she's going to get home when it's raining buckets and there's a perfectly good chance for her to get hit by a bolt of lightning. Wouldn't that be an adequate finale for such a great day that she's had?

Her trail of thoughts is interrupted by the distinct sound of a car unlocking and she looks to her side to see Charlie with a remote control at hand. And her car is parked right up front, Noelle's not sure how she managed to miss it. But then again, she distinctly remembers seeing the blonde drive around with a bright, cherry red Ferrari and not a sleek, black, whatever brand this one is. It only confuses her for a split second because the reminder that the blonde is filthy rich comes shortly after, and it's not unheard of for rich people to have more than one luxurious vehicle.

"Come on." Charlie says, disrupting yet another discourse that Noelle decides to take up in her head. It barely registers at first because it can't be aimed at her, but also, there's no one else but her in the vicinity.

"Wait, what?" She can't help but sound confused. "When was this established exactly?" Not that she would refuse it in that instant, but Noelle doesn't remember being asked if she wanted a ride in the first place.

"You aren't seriously thinking about walking all the way home, right?" Charlie questions incredulously, and Noelle has to agree, that would be beyond ridiculous.

Bur it's not like it's her only option. Sure, she doesn't have any friends who own cars, but she could always call a cab. And sure, she doesn't have any cab's number because Isabelle has those saved in her phone and she doesn't have that kind of money on her because cabs are ridiculously overpriced and she didn't think she'd have to take one today, but—Noelle doesn't know where she's going with this. She has no options, really.

"And why would I wait you shower for half an hour if I didn't intend on giving you a ride after?" Charlie continues with her argument, that Noelle nearly didn't make note of because she was too busy weighing out options in her head.

"I didn't take that long." Is all Noelle grumbles as her arms cross over her chest but that's just her way of showing relent. That much is made clear the next instant, as they both walk, or rather scurry, towards the car because it is in fact still raining.

Noelle lets out a breath she didn't even know she was holding the moment she closes the door beside her and settles on her seat. The blonde follows only a moment after, disadvantaged by the fact that the passenger's side was facing the sidewalk. She's laughing though, her breathing erratic at the slightest, and she looks much younger than her years. The younger laughs along without even realizing, the scene resembling something right out of a childhood memory, when running around under the rain was more deliberate than inevitable. It doesn't falter even as she turns the ignition and the windshield wipers are put to work.

It dies down when Charlie turns to her and immediately frowns, corners of her mouth downturning. Noelle is about to ask what exactly is wrong, but the blonde beats her to it.

"You're soaked." She notes grimly, a hand darting out to brush away the wet bangs that cling to her forehead.

The younger backs away by instinct, the action seeming entirely too domestic to be happening between them. Especially right after the turmoil of only a while earlier. "You were out in the rain longer than I was." She deflects with a nervous laugh, her hands subconsciously tousling at her hair, like the blonde did before.

"Yeah, but you just got out of a shower." Charlie argues, clicking her tongue in disapproval. "You could catch a cold just like that." She snaps her fingers as she says so, but it only lasts a moment because soon she's flicking on the thermostat to warm the air.

Noelle busies herself with looking around the interior as Charlie pulls out of the driveway, fingers drumming a pattern on the bag she's wedged between her legs before simply deciding to move it to the floor, right at her feet. It's rather clean, not even a speck of dust on the dashboard, and there's nothing on the backseat or the padded floor either. She doesn't know why she's particularly surprised, but it may have something to do with the recollection of the last time she was in a girl's car.

There was a honest to god bra wedged on the space between the glass and dashboard, the compartment glove yanked open to reveal tiny bottles of liquor and spilled make up, several changes of clothes stuck at the back of the seats and under them. By the time they moved to the backseat to get it on, Noelle recalls an unpleasant contact her knee made with a used condom, tucked between the seats. She was a little too buzzed and lust driven to end things then, but she did near shed a whole layer of skin in the shower the next morning as she scrubbed the sex off.

"Are you looking for anything incriminating? Because you won't find anything." Charlie notes amusedly, a hint of a smirk on her lips. "I keep the axe and the body bag in the trunk."

A laugh tears out of her throat, body almost springing forward by the unexpectedness of it. A hand quickly comes up to her mouth to stifle the sound, but it's no use, Charlie's attention is fully on her by now. She can't see it coming, eyes crinkled closed nearly all the way, but the blonde's hand pushes past her own, thumb dipping into the hollow that forms on her cheek before deciding to give a light pinch. It happens fast enough for Noelle not to be able to react properly, a whine slipping past her lips as she chases the retracting hand to plant a smack on it.

"You're always sulking around me." Charlie chastises, but she sounds only half serious. "I keep forgetting you have dimples."

"I don't sulk." Noelle grumbles, but her expression goes against her, mouth falling in a petulant pout.

The blonde alternates glances between her and the road ahead, laughing merrily. "You're doing it right now." And in the spirit of playfulness, she reaches out to poke at the jutted bottom lip. But the younger catches her in time and swats the hand away, eyes slanting as she glares without a tad bit of menace.

"Can you try not to crash us, please?" Comes the brusque reply, Noelle's head turning to the side to hide the pinpricks of fervour chasing trails along her cheekbones. Stupid brain, stupid heart, stupid Charlie Sloane constantly making her flush. It's not fair.

"Alright, alright." She soothes in a wind chime laugh, sparing the other one last glance before focusing on her front view instead. It's a short pause later that she continues with "Where to?"

"Da Vinci Street." That she might not be familiar with, so Noelle is quick to add. "It's right by the Botanical Museum, the one—"

"I know where it is." The blonde interrupts amusedly, a coy smile on her lips. "I get out of Northwest sometimes, you know?"

 _Well alright then_ , Noelle thinks, arms crossing over her chest. If she asks for directions later, she'll make sure to laugh right in her face. Charlie can act cocky all she wants for now.

"It's a good while away from here. It can't be convenient." She continues, not finished with her train of thought apparently.

The dark haired considers not answering her. It's not like Charlie Sloane actually cares about the trifles she deals with on the daily. She replies nonetheless ; home is nowhere near and the silence can be very unbearable. "Four bus stops, more or less. But the housing prices on that part of town are generally cheaper. I don't even live by myself and I can't imagine renting a place anywhere arond here." She has yet to take a jab at her, so she doesn't stop there. "Nowhere near the prices up in Northwest, but you know, still pretty heavy on the pockets for us plebeians."

It makes Charlie laugh, but she doesn't argue. Bummer, Noelle was hoping they could get into the monstrous financial gap the so called middle class and modern times bourgeoisie are facing. That discussion wouldn't have even gone halfway through by the time they reached her neighborhood. And it's what they seem to do best, either way. Agreeing on anything doesn't suit them.

Silence settles in, and though it unnerves her, Noelle wouldn't dare to break it. She wouldn't know what to say. Talking comes easier to Charlie ; Noelle thinks it's because she rarely considers the consequences to her words. But she can't be that careless, not again at least. She doesn't know where she stands with the blonde, can't know just how little it'd take to strike a chord. It took one act of defiance for the other to hold her scholarship against her. The actions she's taken since then have been more on the opposite direction, but Noelle can't help thinking that it's only a matter of time until she resorts back to her old ways.

"You know I never really apologized about what I said."

Either Noelle ended up reciting her inner monologue out loud, which is frankly impossible, she would've noticed at some point, or Charlie Sloane is actually capable of reading minds because she didn't just say exactly what Noelle was thinking of.

"I shouldn't have brought up your scholarship like that. You've earned it, no one can take that away from you." Noelle tries not to dwell too much on just how earnest she sounds, because it's honestly messing with her head. "I've been bothering you lately but you're right, you owe me nothing. I shouldn't have kept on insisting." She pauses for a moment, and it only adds on to the suspense that's making Noelle's heart race, leaving her out of breath. "As for the party, it was stupid of me to lock us in. I just thought it'd be easier for us to talk if you stopped trying to leave. But I can't make you do things you don't want to do. That goes for the kiss too." She draws in a deep breath. "I'm really sorry."

Noelle wasn't even expecting her to say that, not now, not ever possibly. She's aware she hasn't moved a muscle since Charlie started talking but she can't quite help it. Her mind has ceased to function properly and her heart is telling a whole different story that she wouldn't like to get into in that instant. It feels like some sort of a milestone, her perception of Charlie Sloane starting to shape up differently, softening around the edges. It's too early to speak still, but what she thought of her that morning and what she's thinking now, she might as well be looking at two entirely different people.

"Can you repeat that?" She hears herself say, feeling Charlie's attention shift to her. It prompts her to put on an act and fumble with her things until she finds her phone. "I want to record it."

When their gazes meet, the blonde realizes she's joking and bursts out laughing at once. "I'm trying to be serious, here."

Noelle laughs too, if only because she is, but also because that's so much easier than actually thinking her words over. Something she inevitably has to do when they recover from laughing, another stretch of silence creeping in. She finds that it's her turn to make amends too, because Charlie deserves as much and it might just lessen the pang weighing down her chest.

She clears her throat before speaking up. "Well, since we're at it. I'm sorry too." She turns to look at Charlie, who's already looking with eyebrows raised in surprise. "About what I said in the break lounge. And for judging you more from your reputation than the way you behaved." Noelle's looked away by then, never one to simply run smooth with sentimentalisms, but she can feel the blonde look over to her every few moments. "About the kiss…" She nearly chokes up at the mere mention of it, uncomfortable heat engulfing at her cheeks. "It went both ways, it's not like you forced me into it. But let's just forget it ever happened."

Noelle gulps down the knot on her throat, before looking to her side, meeting with the blonde's profile. But there's a serene grin stretching at her lips and she looks over the moment she feels the younger's eyes on her. There's a certain gleam in her eyes that Noelle can't quite place, but she's happy, so the younger doesn't look too much into it. There's no need for it yet.

"So, do we shake on it?" Charlie wonders after a short while, looking thoroughly amused with her idea.

"What?" Noelle questions, confused but also entertained by just how childishly delighted the blonde looks.

"You know how in movies, when the main characters clear things up and reconcile, they do that thing where they just introduce themselves again and shake hands. Like they're turning a new leaf." She's laughing as she recounts and the dark haired can name at least ten individual movies that bring that exact same scene to her memory.

"I've always thought that was such a atupid thing to do." Noelle admits with a scoff, but there's no ill intention behind it. "Like, what's the point if you already know each other's names?"

"It's supposed to be a metaphor for a new start." Charlie argues but she can't sound any serious because she's laughing.

"Well, it's a very stupid metaphor." The younger says in a rather decisive manner, breaking out in a grin without meaning to.

When there's nothing left to say, Noelle can't say she particularly minds. The silence doesn't sit as tense and heavy as before and she can look out the window, to recognize familiar buildings on the passing by. It shouldn't be long until her apartment complex comes into view, and she makes sure to point out exactly which one it is for Charlie to stop up front. By the time the car slows to a stop, Noelle's already gripped a secure hold on her bag, other hand coming up to the door's handle.

She's just about to turn to Charlie and thank her when the girl beats her to it. "You should give me your number." Is all that comes out of her mouth, a distinct nonchalance attached to the bold statement. When Noelle only makes a face at that, she's quick to continue. "So we can text about tutoring schedule and stuff. When you're free, where we'll meet up, things like that."

"Smooth." He frowns melts into a light laugh and she's holding a hand out for the other to hand over her phone.

And she does, watching as the dark haired swiftly presses on the digits before handing the phone back to her. "I swear I'll block you if you start getting annoying." She throws in just for laughs at this point, Charlie can tell she doesn't mean it.

"Well, thanks for the ride." Noelle gives a smile, dimples forming on both her cheeks and Charlie is half tempted to reach out and poke them.

"You're welcome." She mirrors with a smile of her own. Just as Noelle goes to unlock the door, she remembers something. "I should have an umbrella in the trunk. I can grab it for you."

The younger chuckles in surprise. "Don't be ridiculous. It's just a few steps away." She throws another grin before breaking eye-contact and pulling on the handle. The door flies open and she jumps out the car, tossing a hasty "G'night" over her shoulder before dashing forward and disappearing inside the building.

"Night." Charlie echoes, though Noelle is long gone, but the grin can barely slip off her face. It's still there, shining on her like a sliver of moonlight, even after she shakes her head and drives off. It does next to nothing to clear her thoughts, because every corner is filled with her, her, her.

Noelle's sluggishly making her way up the stairs, _why did they have to live on the 7th floor of a building with a deathtrap of an elevator,_ when something buzzes against her thigh. She slips her cellphone out of her sweatpants' pocket, the screen lighting up with a new message ; an unknown number that's sent a simple winky face. Wow, she wonders who could that be?

She gives a roll of her eyes but she's laughing still as she saves it as Charlie Sloane and gets on with the rest of the tiring journey. Her expression perks up at the slightest as she's in front of the door that's become more than familiar at this point. It takes her a good while to get the keys out of her bag, they'd gotten stuck somewhere at the very bottom because that's just her luck.

Noelle's just locked the door behind her, slipping her shoes off when Isabelle emerges out of the living room. Annie, no doubt, should be appearing shortly after. They're always attached to the hip somehow, the pair of them.

"Hey. Who was that who dropped you off?" Isabelle wonders, unmasked curiosity in her tone. "I couldn't recognize it, but then again it was really dark out." She adds the last part as some sort an afterthought, Annie who's just over her shoulder has a better chance of hearing it than Noelle who's not too far away from the doorway.

The dark haired drops her bag somewhere near the dresser, her arms stretching overhead as she lets out a strangled sigh. Their expectant gazes are still on her and she meets Isabelle's eyes to mutter "Charlie Sloane" and then simply turn left to head for her bedroom.

Isabelle remains puzzled for a moment, gaze following the trail Noelle chased, even if the latter is soon out of sight. "I can never tell when she's joking." She settles for instead, searching for the blonde who's now standing beside her.

"Didn't sound like it." Annie decides without hesitation. "It was a really nice car. Rationally, how many rich people can she know?"

They share a meaningful look after that bit of reasoning and it only takes the blink of an eye for them to simultaneously rush after the dark haired, who has a whole lot of explaining to give.


	4. Chapter 4

Charlie Sloane is an annoying texter, there's no other word for it. She texts again the same evening she gets her number, or rather the next day, because it's something past three in the morning. It doesn't see the light of day until the alarm awakes her at six a.m.  
Noelle only skims through it, eyelids still heavy and stinging with sleep, catching only a vague idea of what it contains. Something about what's supposed to happen to our souls after we pass or who knows what she's come up with.

It's too early for this shit, Noelle thinks as she rubs a hand over her eyes, stifling a yawn that makes its way out against her palm, and she texts back exactly that. The phone is thrown somewhere over the duvet, to be picked up later on, as she moves on with the morning routine as per usual. The blonde's early morning deranged wonderings are pushed somewhere at the back of her mind and by the time she's sitting next to Annie in front of the kitchen counter over breakfast, it's all but a gust a wind in a raging sea of thought.

"What made you change your mind?" Annie mumbles around a spoonful of cereal, gaze sitting pensively in the general direction of the dishes piling up in the sink. "I may be going out on a limb here, but I seriously doubt it was because of what Isabelle said."

Noelle doesn't have to ask what she's referring to exactly. "She apologized." The dark haired lets on with a gentle shrug of her shoulders. "About everything. What she did, what she said." A moment later she adds. "I don't know, she sounded sincere."

The blonde nods along, turning to look at the girl beside her, who's pointing a blank stare at the half bitten toast on the plate.

"See? We told you she wasn't all that bad." There's a genuine smile on her lips, all mellow and flowery.

Noelle finds herself nodding along absentmindedly. Neither of them say anything for a while, the clanking of cutlery filling the silence instead. Isabelle's usually the one who does the talking, even early in the morning, a surge of cheerfulness that Noelle'll never know where she gets from. But she doesn't have classes this early in the morning, not always at least, so she can allow herself a few more hours of sleep. Before she can delve further into that, her phone buzzes beside her elbow on the counter, the sound as annoying as it can be with the morning drowsiness still clinging to her like a second layer. She picks it up, turns it on and near slams it back on the marble surface.

"She sure is annoying though." Noelle follows Annie's thought from earlier and turns to face her, spying a confused look taking up her features for a split second.

She catches onto it though. "I thought you didn't follow her."

Noelle couldn't bother to keep up with Charlie Sloane on social media, beside the fact that she didn't use them as much on her own. The girls would sometimes moan over brunch out or lunch break about the loads of pictures she posted of herself in foreign countries and luxurious resorts, wishing they could afford to do the same. Noelle considered it some sort of self-inflicted torture, them continuing to look through her feed, though it did nothing for them beside making them feel like typically poor university students. Noelle, on the other hand, likes to think she's come to terms with her poverty.

"I don't." For a second she considers not telling her what she means by that. "She asked for my number." And there it is.

Annie near spits the cereal out, a hand flying up to her mouth to prevent that. She takes several moments to pull herself together, Noelle following her actions with an unimpressed look because honestly, she should've known the other would go the dramatic way about it. Kind of exaggerated probably, how she only barely manages to gulp down the cereal, several drops of milk sprinkled across the counter. Noelle makes a gagging sound at that.

"Let me get this straight." Annie snickers lightly. "Around this time yesterday you could've sworn she was the spawn of Satan, but by the evening you gave her your number?"

"Only because we had to decide on the tutoring schedule." It's what Noelle chooses to justify herself with, all defences up.

Her friend only gives a smile that's all too knowing, but doesn't press any further. "Alright. Whatever you say." Which easily lets Noelle know that her friend doesn't believe her, at all. And that's infuriating on its own because she's not even lying.

It doesn't get any better over lunch break later on, when Annie recounts the whole thing to Isabelle. The brunette has the exact same reaction and Noelle spends the rest of the break tuning the two of them out as they go on and on about how they should've seen it coming, where this is going and what not. The moment they start planning her wedding is when Noelle abruptly stands up and leaves the table without another word, their merry laughs following tauntingly behind her.

`°`°`°`°`

Noelle doesn't see much of Charlie Sloane for a while. It's not, or better it shouldn't be surprising, because they only see each other at Lowry's once a week, but that's not her point. She has disappeared into thin air. She's nowhere to be seen on the break lounge, around the hallways, not even in the library. She almost asks the girls if Charlie's attending the classes they share, but on a second thought she refrains from doing so. And it's for the sole reason that they'd surely make a big deal out of it, make it out to be something that it isn't.

A persistent idea takes up her thoughts, that maybe the blonde is already reverting back to her old ways. And Noelle doesn't know if that relieves or disappoints her. She wouldn't be surprised if the girls told her Charlie posted a picture of herself on the States or somewhere halfway across the world. It wouldn't reassure her as it probably would a week or two back, but she'd come around at some point and convince herself that it's all for the best.

That illusion quickly falls apart around the time she's finished with classical ballet and wasting away on a bench in the changing rooms. She's exhausted, her limbs aching and pulsing from the strain, but her head feels light, as if she's floating above the clouds. She could fall asleep like that, there's no one around, since she insisted on lingering behind for a while, and the next class should be for another few hours. But she sucks it up and heads for the showers, exiting the studio altogether a quarter of an hour later.

She has a new message, she realizes as much as she's out of the building and walking down a set of stairs. It's been delivered a while ago but she wouldn't know, her phone remains switched off, especially during ballet. She stops on her tracks as she reads it, almost groaning at the content.

Charlie Sloane : meet me in the library when you're finished :)

Noelle wants to say no and take the bus home, because heavens knows just how badly she wants to sleep. But she's turning right back where she came from in no less than a second, with an odd sense of relief fluttering in her chest. It's rather out of place, she certainly isn't up for a tutoring session after hours of practising to no end. Maybe she's simply glad that Charlie isn't going back to who everyone knows her as this soon. This new version of her is more bearable to have around.

Charlie Sloane is sort of a walking cliche, Noelle realizes as she's at the library's entrance and the blonde's in plain sight, her feet propped up on the desk, arms crossed behind her head and all. She'd roll her eyes if it were anything less than what she expects of her. The blonde sends an overly excited wave her way upon spotting her, which Noelle reciprocates half heartedly, mainly because it feels ridiculous and her heart is playing all kinds of tricks on her. She mutters a greeting for the lady at the desk up front, cheeks tinted pink before clambering over to where the blonde is sitting, with her head aptly ducked down.

"Hey there." Charlie's raised eyebrows and radiant grin greet the younger before her words do.

Noelle gives a hum of acknowledgement and a hasty motion with her head instead, avoiding meeting her eyes. A sigh slips past her lips as she takes a seat and slumps on it ungraciously, setting her bag down next to her feet on the floor.

"Listen, we might have to cut a little short today. I'm exhausted." The dark haired makes sure to note, sounding as apologetic as she can at the moment.

Charlie perks up at that, as if she just remembered something. "And that's why your perfect student thought of getting you an energy boost." Noelle merely scoffs at that, the sound falling short as a fancy looking cardboard bag appears out of nowhere and is settled over the desk, paper bands peeking out of it.

Noelle wouldn't have looked more wary if a time bomb was flat out placed right in front of her. "What's in there?"

"There's only one way to find out." The blonde wheedles in a sing song manner, nudging the mysterious bag towards her.

And Noelle complies, albeit hesitantly, taking a hold of the bag and pushing the papers out of the way. Her eyebrows furrow at a flash of crimson, and a slim box that proves more extensive than imagined as she fishes it out. It takes little inspection for her to realize what it is. A box of chocolates. Specifically, cherry liqueur chocolates. Her favorites.

The dark haired is a little more than bewildered when she looks over to Charlie. "I love these. How did you know?"

"Just a lucky guess." Is all she chooses to reply with, a shrug of her shoulders following suit. But her smile is entirely too wicked for Noelle to believe as much as a single word that's coming out of her mouth.

"There's no way, even the brand is spot on. You can only get these in the italian market down south." Noelle notes, her grin tainted with disbelief. "Who told you?" She can guess as much but she wants to hear the other say it.

Charlie tries to feign indignation but it barely lasts, expression melting away in a sheepish grin instead. "Alright, I may have asked your friends about it." She relents and Noelle could be seeing things or Charlie Sloane is actually blushing.

"I knew it. Those traitors." Noelle exclaims, a laugh stringing along to her words. "What did you do to them? They actually started putting in good words for you."

The blonde flushes a deeper crimson and Noelle can tell the ordeal is playing numbers on her because she keeps turning her face away. "Really? I thought they'd find me annoying because I kept asking them questions about you." Charlie gives a nervous laugh after saying so, as if she revealed something she shouldn't have. Or maybe she's just embarrassed, Noelle can't tell.

"Yeah?" The dark haired sounds more flippant than she feels. "Why's that? Are you trying to get on my good side?" Her eyes are downcast on the box as she talks, working through a plastic layer of wrapping with little patience.

"I just thought I'd do something nice since you agreed to this and accepted my apologies." Her voice has dropped several octaves by the time she reaches the end of that sentence and Noelle can guess she was probably hoping it'd go unheard.

She could make a remark about how she never actually said she accepted her apology or note how she's a long way from trusting the blonde, she definitely could, but she doesn't. Instead Noelle only gives an easy smile, shoulders bunching up in a shrug, before popping one of the chocolates in her mouth.

The explosion of taste is immediate, she could almost moan. It takes a lot from her not to make some sound of satisfaction but she manages, instead propping the box in the other's direction. "Have some." The action is sheerly instinctive, if only because she's not used to having anything and not offering some to her friends or them leaning over to grab a bite without asking.

Charlie hesitates but picks one out, flicking the chocolate into her mouth. Her expression sours a split second later and Noelle can't help but chuckle. "Yeah, just as bitter as I remember."

"Bittersweet." Noelle corrects her, taking another one. "That's basically their whole appeal."

"The chocolate does nothing to soften the bitterness." Charlie argues, her features having yet to unclench from a grimace.

"Why did you have any if you don't like them?" The dark haired argues, eyebrows drawn together in what is supposed to be disapproval, but the chuckle that follows defies that sentiment.

The other provides a dismissive shrug as a reply, leaving a blank space for Noelle to fill up on her own. Ideally it'd be so, but she can never come close to figuring the blonde out. For someone who seems to always act on genuine impulse, you'd think she'd be easier to read.

Noelle puts the box away, barely managing to stuff it into her bag. "Either way, thank you. I appreciate it." It's worth saying, if only for the grin that Charlie gives her afterwards. "But just so you know, I'm not accepting any other gifts." The blonde looks like she wants to say something so Noelle is quick to deflect. "Don't you have any books with you? How are we supposed to study?"

"I thought you'd have them, since you're the nerd between the two of us." The remark comes to her naturally and Noelle can't bother to act indignant.

"Great. You made me miss the bus for nothing." Is all the younger huffs out, mouth falling in a petulant pout.

"I would've given you a ride home either way." Charlie notes in a somewhat offhanded manner. "I'm a gallant woman. What do you take me for?" She tilts her chin up in defiance also, as if daring the other to tell her otherwise.

Noelle doesn't, mainly because she wants to get it all done with and an unnecessary discussion would only have her there for longer than she needs to be. A recollection of a text she was sent previously by the blonde, heavens knows what even triggers that, gives her an idea.

"We could start with the Divine Comedy. They should have that here." A journey in the afterlife, it makes sense. "I'm pretty sure you were in the Seychelles when we were studying that."

It doesn't take long for the blonde's mouth to break out in a full blown grin. "Aw, you keep track of my vacations. That's cute."

It's really not the case. Noelle can vividly remember a couple of girls sitting behind her, huffing and bemoaning about the new pictures Charlie had posted in said location, when Lowry wasn't even halfway through recounting Dante's journey in hell. She'd genuinely considered turning to them to make a snappy remark, because it was very early in the morning and she didn't need to be reminded of Charlie Sloane's existence. Also because she isn't all that pleasant that early on and any sort of disruption makes a perfect opportunity for an argument. It was up to Lowry to do god's work and remind them that they're under no obligation to be there and could easily go wherever it interested them. Neither of them said much after that.

Instead of briefing any of that, Noelle chooses to stand up and make for the shelves, ignoring the blonde's calls that don't take long to go from humorous to frantic at the slightest. The younger throws a look over her shoulder and catches sight of confusedly furrowed eyebrows, paired with a lightly gaping mouth. The light laugh that ensues as she disappears amidst the rows is enough of a reassurance for whatever the blonde was thinking.

"We're dealing with all of that right now?" Charlie eyes at the brick mass of a book warily, sounding instants away from a groan.

"This," Noelle slaps a hand over the book and pushes it in the blonde's direction. "is for you to take with you and read at home. We can break down most of the storyline now, or I can give you a rough outline of the most important events, but you'll have to do the reading either way."

The blonde stared at the book as if its mere presence offends her. "Why do I have to read the whole thing? SparkNotes exists."

"Don't judge from the bulkiness." Noelle argues. "It's a fairly easy read. It'll just take a couple of days at most. We can meet up again when you're done with it and I'll question you about it."

"That's no fun." Charlie notes sulkily. "What do I get out of this?"

The dark haired gets an exasperated look. "Knowledge?" She can't believe she has to explain herself. "That's what tutoring is about."

"It doesn't have to be this boring, does it?" She leans over on her elbows as she says so, a suggestive smile on her lips.

Noelle actually laughs in disbelief. "I get nothing out of this. If you don't want to be tutored, I can just go home."

Charlie Sloane doesn't say another word.

It's by the time that she's going through the fourth circle of hell, right by the avaricious and the prodigal, that she starts dreading the blonde isn't quite listening to a word she's saying. Noelle went the whole inclusive route about it, even grabbing a pen and paper sitting nearby to draw a plain sketch of what she's recounting. The other is staring at her dead in the eyes, gaze flicking to her mouth only once in a while. She throws in a nod every now and then, grin widening periodically, but both are rather out of context. At some point, the younger notes how her pupils are full blown, the pitch black near swallowing the honeyed brown entirely. It gets her to slowly trail off, until a stunned silence settles in. Noelle allows it to stretch for a while, to see if the blonde intends on doing anything about it, but she doesn't.

"What are you—"

"You never answered my question." Charlie disrupts, completely off topic. "What do you think happens to our souls after we die?" It's odd how both of them thought back to that occurrence in two different instants.

Noelle makes a face at that. "Does it matter? We have to finish—"

"Humour me." The blonde follows promptly, grin wide and chin digging into her entwined hands.

Has Noelle mentioned she's exhausted? Because she really is. An elongated sigh later, she relents. "It's a bit of a mix between the epicurean philosophy and the buddhist belief. Epicurus believed that our souls are made of atoms, just like everything else, and after we die, the atoms disperse and become part of the world as we know it." The blonde is hanging onto her every word, her eyes widening in wonder. "I like to believe in reincarnation also, but I think it's just because the idea of there being nothing waiting for us after we die kind of scares me."

"So, no heaven, purgatory and hell then?" Charlie figures, and she sounds genuinely contemplative for reasons that are beyond her.

"It just seems too cliche to me. The whole reasoning behind their existence relies heavily on God and his will. Frankly, I'm not all that religious." Noelle feels they're only at the start of an entirely new discourse, so she reiterates. "Can we get back to the book?"

The blonde lets out a sigh. "Do I have to remember everything you're saying?"

"Well, not in great detail." Noelle reasons. "As long as you learn the main themes. Hell is all about absolute justice, everyone who is condemned there will suffer eternally for their sins. Purgatory gives people a chance to amend for their sins. And heaven only welcomes those who are entirely cleansed of foul intentions and sin. You should also remember that the pushiments are meant to counteract the sins themselves."

Charlie looks a little dazed for a moment before taking the pen and paper. "It's probably better if I take notes. Absolute justice, you said? Eternal suffering…"

Noelle only skims over the rest of the storyline, enough for the other to have a headstart but nowhere near enough for her to have a firm grip on the book without even bothering to read it. They've finished the task at hand sooner or later, and Charlie doesn't complain as much when Noelle signs the leave form for the book. She does, however, voice evident discontent on their way down the hallway and towards the exit.

"I still think this is useless." Noelle doesn't have to look to her side to guess that the blonde is pouting. Childish.

"You asked for this." The dark haired reminds her sagely, latching the other backpack strap over her shoulder when carrying it one way starts becoming a tedious, somewhat painful, task.

Charlie's probably starting to regret that already. Noelle cannot possibly figure how she thought tutoring would be entertaining in any way. For any of the parties involved.

"What happens if I get all the answers right?" Is what the blonde chooses to disturb a whole moment of silence with.

"You'll have the satisfaction of properly understanding a world class literary masterpiece." The younger notes, as if it's the most obvious answer ever.

Charlie ignores her. "I should get something, like a prize."

"For what? Doing the bare minimum?" Noelle turns to sneer at her but it's probably not as condescending as she meant for it to be. Clue to that being the fact that Charlie is still grinning.

"We can go somewhere of my choice." She's wearing a smile that Noelle could mistake for sly, if her eyes weren't gleaming.

They're in different sides of her car by the time Noelle decides to answer, hand hovering over the handle. "Maybe." And she just leaves it at that.

Charlie doesn't hassle her about it for the rest of the ride.

`°`°`°`°`

Noelle would like to correct herself. Charlie Sloane isn't just an annoying texter ; she's an annoyingly cryptic one.

She texts at odd hours and asks a lot of questions, ranging from the simplest of things like her favorite color to more ridiculous ones like what she looks for in a girl and the craziest places she's had sex in. Noelle feels like she's in middle school all over again and coerced into playing 21 questions so to not fracture the frail egos of notorious fuckboys. But it was a different time back then, Noelle was a people-pleaser and had yet to come to terms with her lack of interest in men. Now she has options. She can choose to reply earnestly if she's feeling bold or she can reply back with a meme if she wishes to get out a conversation in style. But that's not the point. Noelle can handle Charlie being glaringly obvious about wanting to get in her pants.

What she can't deal with is questions that sound like a whole lot more than that. Roses or lilies? Sunrise or sunset? Sea or land? Ferrari or Porsche? Lunch or dinner? Opera or theater? And every little thing in between. She can't help but think that she's setting herself up for something with every choice she makes. What's the meaning behind any of it? She vaguely wonders if it has anything to do with the prize Charlie suggested if she were to get every answer right. Or it could all be just for shits and giggles. Noelle can't tell when it comes to Charlie Sloane and it's seriously messing with her head.

If any of the girls notice just how frequently they're texting back and forth, they don't mention it. Sure, they share a look or two between them, even throw in a supposedly discreet smile for good measure, but they say nothing out loud. Noelle can at least be appreciative of that.

She probably won't admit it for as long as she lives, but the texts manage to lighten her mood in the oddest of ways. She could be dead tired after practice and still end up laughing at whatever the blonde sends her, you know, after she stops worrying about any underlying meanings. She doesn't always answer, because then she would actually have to hold an entire conversation and that takes time and nerves she doesn't really have. But then later on Charlie will say anything that piques her interest and she'll just give in. It's a vicious cycle really.

And it all falls apart one serene Saturday morning.

There's a little cafe not too far from her apartment building that she and her friends frequent regularly. It has free WiFi and the best coffee Noelle has had the pleasure of tasting, as well as a general, comforting quiet in the air. Never too crowded, never ghastly deserted, just perfect. The staff are about her age and very understanding, especially during exams' season. She knows for sure that neither she nor the girls would survive finals if they couldn't step down and grab black coffee at three am.

She's by herself today because Isabelle likes to sleep in whenever she can and Annie set out to look for a job. She's been going on an independence spiel lately and doesn't appreciate her parents holding her university and living fees over her head. Noelle's been thinking about getting a job too because her father's trust fund won't last forever and she wouldn't want to resort to selling her family's house anytime soon. It's bound to happen at some point, the place is only collecting dust, even if they have a family friend keeping an eye on it. She only goes to visit once or twice a year at most and doesn't plan on going back to live in her hometown.

Noelle's in the middle of sketching outlines of a few ballet steps when the buzz of her cellphone startles her. A line darts across the figure she was working on, and just like that, it's practically ruined. Her mind pans to Charlie, with a penchant for texting at the oddest of hours and she's already planning on not replying, if only out of spite. It doesn't stop her from switching her phone on to see what the other wants from her though.

It's not Charlie, she comes to the realization soon enough. It's an unsaved number, but it looks eerily familiar and she's half certain that it rested among her contacts not too long ago. If there were any doubts to that, there's only one person who'd text her "miss you angel", the term of endearment having been attached to her since last year's costume party for Halloween when she first met her. The angel and the knight in shining armour ; fate was really out to get them that night.

It was some rich kid's house, she doesn't remember who, but she can vividly recall a lavish villa on top of a hill, and the murderous trip they had to take uphill in high heels because the cab wouldn't go all the way for some reason. The party took place outside by the pool for the most part, which is why she decided to slip away and go inside at some point. The luxurious interior managed to somehow rival the standard lux set by the exterior, surpassing it even, as she walked further inside. To this day, Noelle can't think of a better way to show off one's riches than to have a honest to god, floor to ceiling, fish tank implemented in some part of the living area. If she weren't so enthralled by the sight of it, maybe she wouldn't have lingered long enough for the other to show up.

It was like a scene out of a movie. Actually, it was quite literally a scene out of a movie ; the two of them standing in opposite sides of the fish tank, gazes aligning at one point. Not too long after, a girl in a knight costume, definitely a curious sight, walked around the object and came up to her side with the wildest grin on her face. She was comically appalled that Noelle hadn't caught on to the reference, and couldn't figure why she was so ridiculously ecstatic. She introduced herself as Kennedy, a cinematography student and it all made sense all of a sudden. In the following half an hour or so, she explained the reference to Noelle, down to the costumes and all, saying something about how the stars aligned just for them. Noelle remembers laughing, a lot, and a drink or two later, the girl had her pressed against a wall, mouth going in for the kill.

Noelle isn't really one to lose her mind over pretty words and movie references, but the girl looked like sex on legs and she hadn't really gotten laid in a while. The next step was almost logical. Kennedy said she lived nearby and Noelle nodded at the question that laid underneath. They booked it out of there soon after, in Kennedy's motorcycle, because of course she owned one, and Noelle can still feel the sheer thrill as they rode downhill. A mere few minutes later, the ride came to a stop and in they walked, hand in hand, with the knight leading the way.

Kennedy pinned her against the door while fumbling to get the key in, one of her neighbours saw them, before the thing finally gave way and they got in. The costumes were discarded without even making it to the bedroom, laughter and erratic breathing filling the air. And then there were less words and more kisses, less distance and more skin on skin for hours to no end. Same thing happened again the next morning, in the shower and out of it. Kennedy asked for her number and that was it. They saw each other again the next week, and the one after and so on, until a mutual understanding was established and they were inseparable.

Noelle finds herself staring down at the text, barely having moved from the prior position since the recollection of memories hit her. She feels lost, unsure of what she's supposed to do and how she should react. She stays like that for another few moments, dazed gaze slipping away from the phone to move straight ahead, not lingering anywhere in particular. It feels like an eternity later that she starts gathering her things, head heavy with a swarm of thoughts as she makes for her place.

`°`°`°`°`°`

Noelle sort of loses it for the rest of the week. She stays cooped up in her room for the most part, only moving to the couch on the living room when she's certain that no one's home. It's not just senseless, but also utterly pathetic, how a single text from an ex could reduce her to such state. It was a long time coming, she thinks. She didn't react normally when they broke things off. Brushing it off like it was no big deal and going out clubbing the exact same day it happened, wasn't the right way to go about it. She woke up the next morning and her head ached for all the wrong reasons. Noelle refused to acknowledge the break up, heck she even refused to acknowledge the whole thing with Kennedy altogether. Much to her friends chagrin, she'd only talk about it when whatever hard feelings she had regarding the whole thing were crushed to dust and swiped under the rug.

That, was a good three weeks after the occurrence. They watched a game show, drank cheap vodka as penalty and Noelle's tongue got a little loose. She went off on a tangent about how the whole thing was supposed to be casual and no strings attached, and to no one's surprise, she got very much attached. Kennedy on her own was in an on and off relationship with this girl, before she even met Noelle and ultimately, she had decided she wanted to get back with her. There was nothing Noelle could do about it and she was far too prideful to beg the girl to choose her instead. So, she told her she was fine with it and then ghosted her as if her life depended on it. Hence the charade that she kept up lately.

It's been months since then but the void in her chest feels brand new. Her thoughts are plagued with what ifs and shoulda-coulda-wouldas, that do nothing but make her mind race and immobilise the rest of her. She's often stuck laying in bed and staring at the ceiling and other times she finds herself walking in circles around the house, a constant monologue playing in her head. Suddenly she loses the will to get anything done, even the most mundane of tasks becoming tedious. The girls think nothing of it. After a hectic school week, it's only normal to allow yourself to be sluggish on the weekend.

Charlie texts her on Sunday evening, proudly announcing that she has finally finished reading the dreadful book and was ready to be questioned. Noelle cuts her short, saying something about how she'd be really busy the upcoming week and they'd have to postpone the tutoring sessions. The blonde was understanding at least, asking the other to text her if she could spare a few hours at any point during the week. Noelle puts the phone away without replying.

The dark haired figured she'd snap out of her reverie once she got back to attending her classes. She was wrong.

She goes about her days almost mechanically, dancing along to choreographies by sheer muscle memory and getting berated more than usual. It doesn't deter her at the slightest. She walks past acquaintances and barely utters any greetings ; sits with her friends during break and doesn't contribute to the conversations with more than monosyllabic replies. She knows they'll inevitably start jumping to their own conclusions sooner or later but she can't even force herself to feign excitement. They ask her every now and then if something is the matter but they eventually give up when all they manage to coax out of her are nonchalant shrugs and dismissive waves of her hand.

She almost ditched Lowry's class, at the prospect of having to see Charlie. The blonde asks too many questions and can somehow pick out every single emotion on her expression like sentences from a book. And it's the last thing Noelle needs, really. Out of respect for Lowry, she sucks it up and walks right into the class, heading for the far back even though Charlie waves her over to sit with her. She feels bad instantly, but it doesn't waver her from the decision she's made. The blonde turns to look back several times during the lesson, her movements right into Noelle's line of sight but the latter does nothing that indicates acknowledgement.

Lowry inadvertantly saves her from an indisputable confrontation by asking to see the blonde after class. Noelle takes the chance to slip away without much fuss just as the bell rings, feeling Charlie's gaze follow her on the way out. She ignores the uneasiness that it gives her and tries to convince herself that it's for the best. She's being weak and idiotic for letting such a trivial think affect her life and way of behaving, but it's her burden to carry. No one else has to know about it, unless it's no longer an issue.

Isabelle corners her at home later that day when she decides that she's had enough of Noelle being aloof and unapproachable. She certainly doesn't plan on being nice about it either, judging by the stony face she regards the dark haired with as she sits on the side of her bed. Noelle's laying on her back, her phone in hand, and she looks barely perturbed by the other's presence.

"Charlie said you're ignoring her." Is what she chooses to start off with, plucking Noelle's phone out of her hold and putting it down somewhere beside her. "She was wondering if she did something wrong. I told her not to worry, because you're ignoring pretty much everyone."

She pauses for a moment, to make sure that her words resonate. "I didn't say anything during the weekend because I figured you were just tired. But it's clear now that something's wrong. Will you tell me what it is or do I have to stay here all night?"

"It's nothing you should worry about." Noelle notes quietly, her voice slightly above a whisper and she doesn't meet her friend's eyes.

"Well, it has to be if it got you moping around like this." Isabelle counters, but her voice is softer now, losing its initial edge.

When the dark haired says nothing, her friend lets out a sigh and nudges gently at her side. "Scoot over." Noelle complies, if not a tad bit reluctantly because that can only mean that there's a long conversation ahead.

Isabelle lets out a bated breath after adjusting in her position, an expectant silence ensuing. She probably thought the proximity would make the other comfortable enough to start talking but it doesn't seem to be working. The brunette'll have to prompt every syllable out of her apparently.

"Did Charlie do something? I thought she sounded genuinely worried when she asked about you, but I could be mista—"

"Kennedy texted me."

"Oh."

Isabelle sounds just as lost as Noelle feels, it's evident she wasn't expecting that answer. She can't seem to find the right follow up to her surprise.

Noelle continues for no particular reason. "Said she missed me."

She doesn't know if it was something in her tone that changed, but Isabelle's turning to her, weight shifting on the mattress.

"You're considering it." Comes an indignant response from her side. Noelle almost turns to look at her too because she can't figure out what the other means.

"Huh?" She settles for instead, nothing short of confused.

"You're considering it." Isabelle echoes intently. "Getting back with her." The mere prospect of it seems to horrify her.

"No." The girl exclaims in exasperation. "What gave you the idea?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the way you've been acting these past few days?" The brunette jeers at her, but she doesn't sound as malicious as she sounds disbelieving.

Noelle elbows her in the ribs in response, dark features twisting in annoyance. "It caught me off guard." And it's the truth. "It's not like I was thinking of running back into her arms as soon as she send me that. It's just that—I don't know, it made the whole break up thing feel realer. Like, when it happened, I sort of just pushed it somewhere at the back of my head and didn't think it over. But now there's this constant reminder that she left me for someone else and it hurts. I should feel all smug now that she's reaching out to me again, but I don't. I just feel numb."

Isabelle's quiet for a while and the dark haired can't tell if she's holding her breath or not. She's surely thinking though, Noelle can almost hear the thoughts ticking away in her brain.

"I've never seen anyone react like that after a break up." Isabelle admits, a light chuckle following. "It was as if you took all you've ever felt for her, chopped it off and just tossed it away. I came to check on you a couple of nights, to see if you were crying. But no, you didn't shed a single tear." She laughs again but it's lackluster. "I was actually worried you would just have a massive meltdown one day, but it never happened. It was kinda scary."

Noelle gives a laugh that resembles a sob more than anything. "It is pretty messed up, isn't it?" She pauses shortly. "Well, if it's of any consolation, I do feel like crying now."

The other makes a short cooing sound before turning to envelop her in a tight embrace, Noelle's face squishing against her neck.

"Dude, I can't brea—"

"I don't want you to cry." Her tone sounds so earnest that it could put Noelle to shame for trying to joke around. "I've seen you do plenty of that when you were with her. Never again. You'll have to step over my dead body to get back with her."

The dark haired lets out a watery laugh that comes out muffled, struggling to move her arms to hug her friend back. "I don't want to get back with her."

"Good." Isabelle pulls away only slightly to look at her. "Because she's no good for you. No matter how goreous she is."

It gets Noelle to start laughing in amusement and it's actually odd how much better she feels already.

"You do what you have to do, okay? Promise I won't make fun of you, even if you cry." Isabelle swears solemnly, with only the slightest teasing hints in her tone. "Actually, it might just help. I'll leave you to it. Me and blondie will be watching tv, if you'd like to join us later on." She seals the statement with a kiss on the girl's temple before detaching herself from her and jumping out of the bed.

Noelle can only follow her friend's antics with mild amusement from where she's still laying, giving a noncommittal shrug. "I'm kinda tired. I might just sleep already." The brunette nods at that and sends another kiss flying her way, before leaving the room.

She does cry though, a whole lot, so much that she actually starts laughing at one point, if only at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. It's rather relieving to be fair, shedding a heavy burden as such. It makes sleeping a lot more easier than it has been lately.

`°`°`°`°`°`°`

The tranquility that the heartfelt conversation gave her doesn't last long. In fact it's all but shattered the very next day, when the forsaken ex kindly decides to let her know that she'll be back in a few weeks time. Her being away made the pretence much easier to keep up, while her being around would certainly increase the chances of a relapse. Even though Noelle knew she wouldn't be gone forever, she'd at least hoped that Kennedy would be nothing but a distant memory by the time she returned. Taking the last episode into account, that is clearly not the case.

But if the first text managed to throw her into a bottomless pit of despair, the second somehow unleashes hell. She's constantly on the verge of tipping over and snapping at anyone and anything for no reason, growing more restless and irritable by the minute. But not all of the rage is misdirected. Oh no, she's pissed at Kennedy. How dare she assume Noelle would immediately take her back after she kept stringing her along with empty promises for the entirety of their relationship, only to end up leaving her in the end? Who does she think she is? What does she take Noelle for?

Her friends aren't as relenting this time around. It's not a wonder really. Who could stand to be around someone that gets riled up over the simplest of questions and requests? Isabelle is able to guess what could be getting her to act like that, which is why she steps back and takes to avoiding any sort of interaction that isn't absolutely necessary. Annie probably knows too, because she's certainly roped the other day's conversation right out of Isabelle. But she's less patient and doesn't take any shit that's uncalled for, which is why they end up butting heads more than a few times.

Charlie Sloane is blissfully unaware of it all. Which is why Noelle really wants to groan the moment the blonde comes by her side as she steps out of classical ballet, because she just knows that what's about to come can only go downhill.

"Hey there." Charlie breezes out, sunny grin in place and Noelle can feel her mood deteriorate. She's pissed and miserable and she needs everyone else to be just as bad as she is.

"I don't have time for this." Is all she manages to grit out before dashing forward, fully intending to leave the blonde behind.

Charlie, as per usual, doesn't take the hint. "We don't have to do the tutoring thing. We can just hang out or something, we haven't talked in like a week." She sounds slightly out of breath as she tries to catch up with the surprisingly fast younger girl.

When Noelle doesn't deign to even acknowledge her attempts to converse with her, Charlie does the only sane thing she can think of and grabs a hold of her arm to hold her in place. Noelle can tell she regrets it the moment the younger turns to her looking livid, and the blonde grows pale.

She's good at pulling herself together quickly though, Noelle will give her that. "What's up with you?" Annoyance draws both her eyebrows together. "You didn't even sit with me at Lowry's." She releases her hold on the younger soon after, not giving her the chance to dramatically yank her arm away.

"Nothing's up." The dark haired replies gruffly, turning away the next second to keep walking.

"Will you stop for a moment?" Charlie snaps suddenly. "I'm trying to talk to you." She catches up with ease, moving right into the girl's line of sight, trying to get her point across.

It's about all Noelle can take. "God, can't you just let me be? I don't have to explain myself to you. Stay out of my business." She says so with such frigidness that she can barely recognise herself.

Charlie looks downright dumbfounded, mouth opening and closing several times as if she can't find the right words to say. Noelle doesn't give her the time, brushing past her to swiftly saunter away before the anger wears off and she can realize just how irrationally stupid she's being. There's time for that.


	5. Chapter 5

Her and Charlie Sloane aren't the same, Noelle comes to realize soon enough. When she's particularly trying to ignore someone, she'll avoid being anywhere within a mile radius near them. But that's not quite the case with the blonde. Charlie is everywhere that she is, minus the classes they don't share. She doesn't spare her a glance at Lowry's, nor when they pass by each other in the hallways, nor the moment Noelle walks into the break lounge. She doesn't text her again either. There's nothing but radio silence coming from her and Noelle hates it. You'll never hear her saying anything of that sort out loud though. 

"At least admit you're the one in the wrong here." Annie's the one to speak up, still sounding somewhat collected, considering her usually short temper when it comes to Noelle's antics. 

It took Noelle some effort to get back on their good graces, most notably Annie's and it consisted of house chores, several trips to the supermarket and infinite supplies of booze and coffee. Also, a distinct change of attitude, but that should go without saying. 

Noelle huffs out a frustrated breath. "I made it very clear that I wanted to be left alone. It's not my fault she kept insisting." 

Annie doesn't spare the condescending tones. "She was worried about your stupid ass. You clam up at the slightest inconvenience and expect everyone to just go along with it. But we can't, because it's not normal. It's pretty fucking scary, actually." 

"I'm not here to get psychoanalysed." The dark haired is quick to shut her down. "Why did we even start talking about this?" 

The blonde lets out a groan, looking like she wants to bash her head against the table. "Lord, give me patience." A moment later she turns to Isabelle next to her, who's been suspiciously quiet on the matter. "Say something. Help me out here." 

Isabelle takes turns to look at the two of them with mild interest. "I already talked to her about it and she didn't listen. She can do whatever she wants. I don't care." Feigned nonchalance clings to her voice with intent, corners of her mouth lightly quirked up. 

Though the comment was probably made to irk her, Noelle only nods along. "See? She's with me on this. I'm the one in charge." 

"In charge of making stupid decisions." Annie quips tersely, her lips pursed with evident disapproval. She looks like she wants to say more, but Isabelle disrupts swiftly. 

"I'm not with you. I just think you're a dumbass and there's no use in trying to reason with you." Isabelle clarifies solemnly, a pointedly blank look on her face. 

She's trying to get to her, it's glaringly obvious. But Noelle has had her fair share of outbursts this past week and the anger fuel has practically maxed out. They'll have to wait two to three business weeks to get any semblance of a rise out of her. 

"Doesn't matter." Noelle dismisses with a shrug, leaning back in her seat. "I'm finally at peace. I don't have her nagging me all the time anymore." 

Annie instantly makes a face at that. "Don't give me that bullshit. You miss her. You know what you did was wrong, but you're too stubborn to go up to her and apologize like a decent person." 

"Why the hell would I miss Charlie Sloane?" Noelle exclaims, her statement not going unheard by the few students sitting nearby. The blonde isn't among them, so she can't bring herself to care. She meant to sound indignant too, but at most, she only managed to sound suspiciously defensive. 

"Uh, I don't know." Annie starts tauntingly, enough that Noelle can easily guess how the rest of the conversation will go. "Maybe because she's funny? And really nice. And I'm sure she's breaking her fucking back trying to get you to be more comfortable around her. On top of all that, she's also an eye candy. You really can't be appreciative of anything, can you?" 

The younger can't help but sulk, like a child getting scolded. "Why don't you become friends with her if you like her so much better?" The arms she crosses over her chest don't help her intentions to appear any less childish than she already does.

"Maybe we should." The blonde looks over to Isabelle next to her, expecting some sort of agreement from her but finding none. 

"You're not helping." Is all that the brunette settles for, looking rather fed up with both of them. "Leave her to it. Guilt is already eating her up. It'll only be a matter of time until she gets it." 

"I don't feel guilty." Noelle is quick to argue. "Why should I?" 

"Because you were a bitch to her for no reason." Comes the plain reply. "You keep letting Kennedy get to you and you can't stand it. So you turn around and hurt people who actually care about you." 

Ah, there it is. Her words hit the nail right in the head and it shows in the way the dark haired visibly deflates, face falling. 

"I don't get it." Annie says, sounding genuinely confused. "I know what you and Kennedy had was pretty intense, but she fucked up big time. So what if she's coming back? It doesn't change the fact that she broke your fucking heart." 

"She didn't break my—" 

"You know what you should do when you see her? Break her knee caps. Like, proper shatter them. Heck, I'll do it. I'll go straight for the knees and you can just stand there to enjoy the moment and give a maniacal laugh. Full on villain mode." Annie's erratic rambling is cut short by an instant burst of laughter, one that she becomes part of not too long after. 

Noelle pretends to wipe tears off her eyes to match with the unnecessary dramacity of the situation, opening her mouth to speak several times, but having laughter come out instead of words. 

"How do you come up with stuff like that?" The younger wonders faintly, not so much out of curiosity rather than incredulity. 

"I'm serious." But she's grinning, so Noelle knows not to take her too seriously. "You can't let her in. Not after all she's done." 

"I wasn't planning on it. Why do you keep saying that?" Noelle can't help but sound exasperated, because she can't think of any other way to make the other two realise that she's not lying. 

"Then why are you ignoring Charlie?" Annie snaps right back, somehow managing to sound just as exasperated as the younger.

"Because…" The dark haired goes to fire back but soon falters. 

"Because?" Isabelle eggs her on, a knowing smile on her lips. 

Noelle feels her mouth fall in a pout, cheeks flushing slightly. "Because...I'm embarrassed." She struggles to drawl out, as if every word is somehow fishing out pieces of her dignity too.

"And why are you embarrassed?" The brunette looks perfectly delighted and Noelle kind of wants to slap that stupid look right off her face. If only she didn't rightfully deserve all of this. 

"Because I was a bitch to her for no reason." The dark haired relents, an eye roll in toll because she can't believe she actually has to say this out loud. 

"I love it when she repeats my words back to me." Annie jumps excitedly in her seat, grinning as she claps her hands lightly. 

"Actually, I said that. She's repeating my words." The brunette is quick to rain on her parade, making the blonde spare her a glare.

"Whatever." Noelle cuts in before it can turn into a full blown argument. "I have to do something about this. Like now." 

"Aha, these are my words for sure." Annie exclaims once again, making Isabelle snort out a chuckle of amusement. 

"Maybe I should break your kneecaps, so you'll shut the hell up." The younger counters, but she can't even pretend to be serious about it, a sly smile creeping up on her lips as she speaks. 

"You say you want me to shut up, but you keep using my phrases. How about you stop first?" The blonde quips sternly, sounding at least half serious. 

"Okay, this is getting old." Isabelle cuts in with a light laugh, but she's soon turning to Noelle with a more solemn look. "If you're going to do something, you better do it now." 

Noelle nods curtly. "I'll think of something." Her gaze steers to the back of a blonde sitting in the opposite corner of the room. "Shoot me a text when she gets out of here." 

Isabelle gives a quick nod but Annie looks troubled. "What if she leaves right after you?" 

"I doubt that." Noelle backs up on her seat before standing up and taking hold of her back. "She's still mad at me. It'll take a while for her to notice I've left." 

"Don't do anything stupid." Isabelle warns playfully, watching as the younger slings the backpack over her shoulder. 

"It's almost as if you don't even know me." The younger feigns indignation, faux shocked expression swiftly morphing into a grin as she waves at them before turning away to leave. 

°`°`°`°`°`°`°`°`°

Personally, Noelle thinks that flowers are a pretty tacky thing to gift to anyone. But since Charlie Sloane just so happens to be a walking cliche, she has a feeling the blonde would really appreciate something like that. Which is why she's a good fifteen minutes away from her school, in the first flowershop that caught her eye. While the redheaded woman at the front desk tends to a middle aged man with a large bouquet of roses, she's taken to looking around the shop for inspiration. 

Roses are always a classy choice to go with, she thinks as she stops by a basket of fresh roses, with droplets of water rolling down the blood red leaves. She bents down to get a better look, only to find a card on a string tied to the basket. It reads in a neat font : "Red roses say 'I love you'." 

Noelle freezes for a moment, with the card still at hand, before she stands up straighter and backs away, letting it fall down the basket's side. No, she'd be sending a wrong message with that. She's not even sure if she likes Charlie the right way. It'd be cruel of her to give Charlie any kind of hope, when there's someone else in her heart. It's still too soon. 

There's a basket of pretty lilies next to them in different colors ; yellow, pink, white, all sprinkled with a myriad of other shades. A message is attached to them : "Lilies wish you all the happiness and fortune in the world". A pretty good sentiment, but not what she's looking for. Tulips sit on the basket adjacent, attracting her attention easily. Their card reads : "Tulips say 'You're the one for me'." Noelle lets out a sigh of dejection. This isn't going the way she hoped it would.   
  
"Are you looking for something special, sweetheart?" A sweet voice sounds from behind her, making Noelle jump slightly. 

The younger meets with a gentle smile as she turns around, one that makes her reciprocate instinctively. "I was just looking for a flower that symbolises forgiveness." She gets a sheepish look as she says that, although the florist isn't there to judge her. 

The delicate featured woman smiles sympathetically. "I have just what you're looking for." 

Less than five minutes later, she's out of the shop with a pretty, little bouquet of purple hyacinths at hand. She was hoping for something a bit more grandiose, but she should've expected an outcome as such with how ridiculously overpriced flowers are. She attracts a fair share of attention walking down the street and all she can think of is how much worse it will get once she steps foot on campus. She is honestly one snarky comment away from abandoning her initiative altogether. So what if Charlie Sloane won't talk to her? At least she'll keep her dignity in tact. 

Nonsense. It isn't the first time her pride has gotten her into such unpleasant situations. When will she learn that nothing good will ever come from holding onto it? Not talking to Charlie has only worsened her mood lately and knowing that she was the one to blame had guilt gnawing at her insides constantly. What happens next is up to the blonde. Worst case scenario, she won't accept her apology and yeah, that might bruise her ego, but it'll still be better than nothing. It's just one of those 'you never know if you don't try' types of situations that she has to go through with and hope for the best. 

There aren't that many students around campus, luckily. It's that time of the day when most students have usually left, few are the ones that still have classes to attend, and even fewer those who stay behind to study or practice their craft. Noelle slows her pace halfway through the campus, intending to fish her phone out and call Annie or Isabelle to ask of Charlie's whereabouts. It quickly falls short when she spots the two of them, before the call even goes through. 

"Hey, where are you?" Isabelle questions as she picks up, laughter laced to her words from what she was probably discussing with Annie moments earlier.

"I'm coming towards you." Noelle huffs out and hangs up right after, because there's not much left to be said. 

They spot her when she's a good few metres away, attentions shifting over to the flowers she's holding at once. Noelle does not make note of that quickly enough to keep them away from view. Hence, she's not even able to get a word in before them.

"You got her flowers?" Annie gushes, a squeal following. "Did you want to apologize or make her fall in love with you?"

Noelle doesn't have time for this. "Shut up." She snaps without any real anger before turning to Isabelle. "Is she still in there?"

Isabelle's grin falls. "Oh, I totally forgot to tell you. No, we were the last ones out of there. I have no idea where she went." 

The younger lets out a groan. "Great. Thanks for nothing." She looks over to the main building, with the casual student walking in or out, thinking just how much she doesn't want to do this. It doesn't take long for her to decide that she just has to suck it up and she's unceremoniously on her way again. 

"Hey, where are you going?" Isabelle calls out instantly after her. 

"To make a fool of myself." Noelle throws over her shoulder, not doing much to slow her pace. 

"Go get your girl!" Annie hollers out excitedly and Noelle turns her head back enough to glare at her before going on her merry way, their hysterical laughters following her all the way to the building. It helps with her nerves, just a little. 

Even for the rare student that passes by, a girl holding flowers in university premises is a curious sight. Noelle feels like she would not have felt any more embarrassed if she were walking around in the nude. She's taking every step wishing, no, praying that the ground swallows her whole. All because of Charlie Sloane. God, Noelle of just two weeks ago would've spat right in her face.

She can't be in class, Noelle reasons, because their major usually finishes up with lectures way before others. She could try the library but Noelle's been there everyday the past week and hasn't run into Charlie once. Noelle actually stops smack in the middle of the hallway for a moment because she has no idea where the blonde could be. Heck, she could've gone home for all she knows. Noelle's been parading herself around with flowers at hand for nothing. Risking public humiliation and all. Okay, that might be a tad dramatic, but this is very new to her. It's unlike her to buy flowers and do grand gestures and shit. She's all words and subtlety, so doing things of this nature is really too much. 

Wait. 

The studio. 

How didn't she think of that earlier? If there's a chance Charlie's still on campus, it has to be the studio. Annie did say a while ago how she's attending classes and painting regularly now. Hell, even Charlie said so herself, that night she walked in on Noelle during practice, how the artist's inspiration hit and she stayed late. The painting studio is just down the hallway from her practice room. A floor above where she's currently standing. Great. 

She can hear music coming from the practice room, distinctly the song they were assigned in modern dance. That's what she should have been doing, she thinks longingly to herself. There's dead silence the rest of the hallway, you'd think it were void of any human life if it weren't for the faint music in the distance. 

Noelle can feel her heart leaping on her throat the closer she gets to the studio. Her hands are all hot and sweaty which is ridiculous, because dead cold and dry hands are her trademark basically. She's suddenly very much aware of the flowers she's holding once again and on a second thought, she crosses that hand behind her back. Walking in with the flowers down her nose would probably make for an awkward sight, while pulling them out suddenly from seemingly out of nowhere introduces the element of surprise, thus making it more exciting. 

Christ, she's about to pass out. Maybe that'd make for a grand entrance ; bursting through the door than immediately dropping dead to the ground. Spectacular! Show-stopping! Never been done before! She should probably try that sometime. 

The entrance itself is rather underwhelming. She pushes the door open, very carefully, only to reveal a clearly empty studio stretching in front of her. She actually stands there for a while, trying to make sense of it, because she did not just put herself through mental hell for nothing to happen at the end of the day. And she'll take home ridiculously overpriced flowers so they can waste away on the kitchen counter. And that's only if she doesn't toss them on some trash bin along the way first, out of pure spite.

Noelle brings them out front because there's no point for them to stay hidden anymore, is there? She traces at the leaves with her fingertips as she's looking down at them and it's a real shame because they're such pretty flowers. That she absolutely doesn't want to hold on to, because it'll only serve as a reminder of the tomfoolery she was about to put herself through. 

Well, there goes that. 

Noelle turns around to leave, absent mindedly reaching for the door knob to pull the door closed behind her. She hasn't even made it past the threshold when someone takes up her line of sight and stills her in place, just in time for the flowers not to get squished to death between them. Damn Charlie Sloane. She just had to steal her grand entrance, didn't she? 

Noelle bets it's quite a comical sight from a third point of view, how they're both completely frozen, probably wearing the exact same taken aback expression and gazes shifting nervously from each other to the flowers and so on and so forth. 

Ironically, it's Noelle to move first, by taking a few steps back and into the room, bodily pushing the door wide open. The blonde follows, in a rather languid manner, slowly taking off her headphones while keeping her gaze trained on the younger. 

"Hey." Noelle squeaks out, her face flaming up instantly. 

"Hey." Charlie echoes flatly, putting the headphones in the pocket of her overalls ; paint stained and very nicely fitting, Noelle manages to make note of somehow.

The dark haired gulps harshly around the dryness of her throat. How is she more intimidated by casual-overalls-Charlie than shirt-and-slacks-Charlie? It makes absolutely no sense. 

Noelle blanks out completely for a moment. What in the hell is she doing there? She looks down at the flowers. Right, that is what she's supposed to be doing. Why did she ever think she could pull through with that? Charlie looks down at the flowers as well. Her eyebrows shoot up in her forehead with inquiry. 

"Uh, these are for you." The younger manages to drawl out, extending the flowers slightly in the other's direction. 

The blonde's eyes widen a little, looking down at the purple glimmerings with such clear shock on her face, that you'd think she was being offered a severed head instead. If Noelle were attentive at all, she'd notice how the other's expression had softened visibly from earlier. But she's instead hung up on how Charlie hasn't reached for them yet and how she's ready to drop the damned thing and bolt right out of there. 

"What for?" The blonde clears her throat and looks over to the side for a few moments and Noelle could damn well be losing her mind right there and then or her lips are actually twitching. 

"Purple hyacinths say 'I'm sorry'." The dark haired says quietly, finding it really hard to look at the other in the face, yet impossible to look away. 

Charlie's lips part and she looks to the side again and there it is, the lip twitch. A hand of hers flies up to try and cover her mouth, but it's useless because she has already broken into a full-blown grin. She's smiling, she's actually smiling. 

"Why can't I stay mad at you?" She says with a light chuckle. "I want to stay mad at you." Their eyes meet but this time her eyes have creased into twinkling crinkles. She takes the flowers from the younger and her star-filled gaze slips over to them. 

"What the fuck Charlie?" Noelle huffs out in exasperation. "You nearly gave me a heart attack. Why were you taking forever?" 

The blonde giggles delightfully. "Serves you right." And then a beat later she looks up. "Wait. That's the first time you've called me Charlie." She looks comically excited about that. 

Noelle scoffs at her. "Don't be weird. And it's not true. I refer to you as Charlie Sloane all the time." 

"That's even worse." Charlie counters with a light laugh, walking further into the room. "Are you sure that's what they really say and not some shit like 'Stay away from me'?" She teases playfully, her hands cradling carefully around the petals, as she brings them close enough to smell. 

"I'm sure." Noelle shoots right back. "Unless that lady at the flowershop was just pulling my leg." 

"Well, they're really pretty either way. I love them." The blonde decides, lips tugged pleasantly in a sunny smile. 

Noelle finds herself smiling right but before she can even say anything, the blonde gets an idea. "Let me put these in water." 

She moves swiftly to grab an empty jar out of the shelves and then over to the faucets on the other side of the room to fill it up. She puts it down on the table then removes enough wrapping from the bouquet to dip the pedicles in. 

"They'll sit in a prettier vase at home. Promise." Charlie is quick to reassure her with a big, child-like grin. 

Noelle lets out a short laugh. "Does this mean I'm forgiven?" 

The blonde pretends to contemplate that for a moment. "Not yet, there's something I need you to do first." And from that sly smile she's wearing, Noelle should know not to expect anything good. 

It's less than ten minutes later that Noelle's sitting uncomfortably in a wooden stool, posture straightened, head slightly turned to the side and hands sitting one over the other. It's not even the pose that's bothering her, because it hasn't even been that long yet. The problem is with the big, ugly, scratchy, faux Victorian era dress she has to wear alongside the pretentious pose. 

"Is it too late to take my apology back?" The dark haired drones monotounously, hands flying up to scratch around the neckline of the horrendous dress. 

"Yes. Shut up." Charlie cuts in swiftly, grin stretching from ear to ear. "Stop moving. And I told you to smile daintily, not look like you're grieving your first born." 

"What the fuck kind of comparison is that?" Noelle exclaims frantically, a short laugh bubbling up her throat right after. 

"Don't mind me. Just some phrase that stuck with me from the Art History lecture." The blonde explains lightheartedly, a serene grin in tact as she continues with the rough sketch. 

Noelle stays quiet for a while, until the itching gets unbearable again and she just has to voice her complaints. "Are you sure I won't catch something from this? It feels really itchy." 

"I literally handed it to you on a box. I got it from the costume shop across the street." Charlie argues without much fervour. "I would've ordered a fancy one if I'd known, but the professor said we should start right away." Noelle only hums along to her explanation, deciding that maybe it's time to bite her tongue from now on. It doesn't quite count as doing someone a favour, if you keep bemoaning the whole time. 

Silence sets in for a while, the scratches of the pencil against the canvas being the only audible sound, aside from the occasional ruffle of the dress as Noelle moves strenuously in her seat. The blonde doesn't berate her about moving and the younger keeps the whining to herself. Simple as that. The task moves smoothly towards completion for a bit, until Charlie decides to speak up. 

"I can't believe it took you this long to swallow your pride and apologize." She voices her incredulity, a chuckle laced to her statement, not quite for comedic effect rather than to express sheer surprise. 

"You could've made it easier for me, you know?" Noelle mutters sullenly around a pout. "If you'd talked to me first, I would have apologised sooner." 

Charlie laughs again. "Yeah, well, I can't keep taking the first steps between the two of us. It wouldn't make any sense." 

"Why not? You're much bolder than I am." The younger quips, light teasing hints coating at her words. 

"I'm not made of confidence, Noelle." The blonde's smiling but it doesn't reach her eyes. "I need reassurance from time to time too. That I'm not just putting effort into something for it to wind up being nothing in the end." 

Noelle falters. It's easy to think of Charlie as the gorgeous, rich, blonde that oozes self confidence and commands attention with every step she takes. It's easy to other her and forget that she's just like everyone else, just as human and flawed, probably just as riddled with worries and insecurities too. Noelle especially has made a mission of forgetting that, hence the easiness she could disregard and attack the blonde with before. 

"Sorry it took this long." The dark haired admits quietly. "I don't know, I think I needed time to get over other shit I was worried about and realize that you had nothing to do with any of it." Annie and Isabelle would be proud, because that's exactly what they've been trying to drill into her thick skull lately. 

"Are you feeling better now? About whatever it is you blew up at me for?" Charlie wonders, sounding a cross between teasing and wary all at once. 

Noelle can laugh about it now, at least. "Yeah, I'm over it. It was something really stupid, honestly." 

"Yeah? How stupid?" The blonde presses in good humour, since the younger is being responsive and all. 

The dark haired wonders if she should answer at first, deciding to do just that not too long after. "Having-to-do-with-an-ex kind of stupid." She notes with a humorless laugh, the mere prospect of it sounding incredibly ridiculous at this point. 

Charlie laughs too. "That's the worst kind. So what? Were you thinking about getting back with her?" Her tone is aptly void of emotion, leaving Noelle perfectly annoyed. 

"I swear to God, if I hear one more person say that—" 

"I bet she's missing you a whole lot now." Charlie continues with her previous trail of thought rather cryptically. 

"Yeah, right." The younger huffs out a laugh. "I seriously doubt that. She was the one who broke things off, not me." 

The blonde looks disbelieving. "That's even worse. It's probably eating her up from the inside now." 

Noelle gives her a harsh glare. "Now you're just mocking me." 

"I'm not." She's laughing but she sounds earnest. "You should know you're quite the catch." She nods over to the flowers. "And you sure know how to win a girl's heart." 

The dark haired snorts out a laugh. "Don't get used to it. I don't usually do shit like this." She raises a hand to rub at the back of her neck. "Are you almost done? I'm starting to get sore." 

"Yeah, I think I have enough for today." Charlie affirms, throwing an easy smile her way before starting to pack things up. 

"Thank God." Noelle moans dramatically, jumping to her feet at once, to instantly regret it as her joints crackle unpleasantly.

She rushes to the changing room the moment she's regained full mobility, Charlie's animated laughter following like wind chimes.

The moment she comes back out, she feels at least a few pounds lighter and with a newfound ability to breathe properly. The trap of a dress didn't leave any marks on her, aside from the ones she raked her nails through, but it'd literally take a gun to her temple to get her to wear that thing again. 

"I was thinking of getting a head piece too." The blonde echoes a trail of her thoughts, not quite informing the younger, as she's thinking out loud. "Like an antique tiara or something." 

"You should get a new model too while you're at it." The dark haired taunts humorously. "There's no way I'm doing that again."

Charlie makes a sound of disapproval. "You can't back out now. Your pretty face is already on the sketch." The last part is more of a teasing afterthought, paired with an equally teasing grin. 

Noelle rolls her eyes while giving a dismissive wave of her hand. "Yeah, sure. How about you take me home now? I don't feel like waiting at the bus stop." She takes a look at the room to see if she's left anything behind and then raises her eyebrows at the blonde in a near expectant manner. 

"Yeah, one second." Charlie holds a hand up for her to stay put while she maneuvers around the studio to put the equipment in place. She disappears off to the changing room, only to come back out with more Charlie-like clothes, which are really just a plain tee, distressed jeans and a leather jacket. The paint stained clothes are neatly folded in her hold and soon thrown into one of the lockers that are lined up along the wall, left side of the room. 

"Let's go." She turns to Noelle with a beaming smile as that is all said and done, but she hasn't made more than a few steps in her direction when she suddenly stops dead on her tracks. 

"Almost forgot." The blonde pivots on her heel and marches towards the table to grab the flowers, along with the jar. 

Noelle makes a faux annoyed sound when Charlie walks over to her, as delighted as ever, with her face buried among the purple bundles. "They smell really good." She notes breathily. "I want new ones when these die out." 

"Don't count on it." The younger chortles, leaving the studio first, while Charlie lingers behind to close the door after them. 

They walk in silence for the remainder of the hallway and stairs, until they reach the exit and Charlie turns to her. "Oh, actually, there's somewhere I need to be and I want you to come with me." 

"You're really pushing it." Noelle grumbles without the slightest bit of seriousness. "You know I can't say no to you today." 

"Uh oh, careful there. Don't give me that kind of power." Charlie warns with a chuckle. "It'll get to my head and I'll start asking for things you won't like." 

The dark haired scowls around a widening grin. "You know better than that." She bites back with a mocking pearly white smile. 

"I really don't." Charlie assures just as sweetly. "That's why I'm warning you." She looks straight at Noelle as she says that, with a certain intensity that makes the younger look away from her with a somewhat nervous laugh and a blush creeping up on her face.

The campus is as good as deserted at this time of the day, which works just fine for her, because she's certain the situation looks pretty compromising. Really, the last thing she needs is to turn into the talk of the campus as Charlie Sloane's newest conquest. The blonde still has quite the reputation, even if she personally doesn't believe in it as much now. The entire student body pretty much treats her like some scandalist celebrity, every single thing she does or says or wears, spreads around like wildfire to feed the cavernous curiosity of people who don't have anything better to do with their lives. 

"So," Noelle echoes once they're inside the car, gaze following the blonde's careful ministrations to balance the flowers properly on the backseat. "Where are we going?" 

Charlie doesn't answer until she's turning and facing forward to start the vehicle. "Somewhere exciting." Her gaze moves to the rear view mirror to check that she's pulling out of the driveway correctly. 

"That sounds ominous." The younger notes warily, her eyes narrowed to slits. "Am I about to get killed in the woods?" 

The blonde laughs lightheartedly, speeding up a little now that they've left the school premises behind. "The nearest woods are like an hour drive away. We don't have time for that." 

Noelle makes a thoughtful sound, arms crossing over her chest. "How far off are we going then?" Her gaze casually travels over to the side, to the moving scenery from her window. 

"Just a little on the outskirts." Charlie notes vaguely, and from the playfulness in her tone, Noelle can tell she's being cryptic on purpose. 

"Ooh, Northwest." The younger croons tauntingly, but it only lasts a flash. "I've never been to that side of town before." 

"How come?" The blonde wonders, genuinely curious. 

"I don't know." Noelle shrugs her shoulders, before leaning back on her seat. "I guess I never had a link to that part. None of my friends or acquaintances live there. When we go out clubbing or shopping we mainly go downtown. That's why, probably." 

"Now you have me." Charlie pipes up in a faux animated manner that Noelle doesn't quite appreciate. 

"Told you not to get used to this, it's a one time thing." The dark haired points out sulkily, not wanting to blow it out of proportion.

The other falters slightly at her reaction, mouth opening and then closing when she can't decide on what to say. She throws another look the younger's way a few moments later, noticing few hints of actual anger and more of discomfort. That's the last thing she needs really, to push the younger further out of her comfort zone, as if she hasn't done enough of that already today. 

"How do you like cars?" Charlie settles for, casual and safe.

Noelle's posture relaxes a little. "I don't really know all that much about cars. But usually, I prefer big cars. You know, as in Range Rover and the likes. Ooh, and Jeeps. I really like those too." 

Charlie looks comically offended at that. "Is this a personal attack against my baby? Because I feel like it is." She pats gently at the dashboard as she says so, making Noelle burst out laughing. 

"It's a pretty car, I'll give you that. But it's barely practical." The younger justifies herself, another fit of giggles stringing along. 

"What's so good about big cars?" The other challenges, taking it more seriously than she probably should. "Like, yeah, okay, the Range makes quite the dramatic entrance but Jeep? What's so special about a frat boy car?" She adds the last part with a sneer, not quite as malicious as it is condescending. 

Noelle rolls her eyes. "It's obvious you've never laid in a Jeep's hood to drink and stargaze, just to eventually jump inside and fuck." It rolls off her tongue so naturally, you'd think she were talking about the most mundane of events. 

Charlie's caught off guard for a moment, before letting out a stunned chuckle. "Damn Gaspard. You're just full of surprises." 

"Everyone has a wild phase." Noelle shrugs dismissively, a faint blush crawling up her neck at the mere recollection of that night. "And Jeeps are quite roomy." 

"I bet you were way more fun back then." The blonde teases, grinning slyly. "Would've loved to have known that Noelle." 

"But you did. It was during our first year here." Noelle smiles somewhat wistfully. "I don't think I was all that much fun. I was mostly just angry, because I felt like I gave away my childhood and teenage years just to get the scholarship. And when I finally got it, I felt like I needed to compensate for all I'd missed." 

She looks over to Charlie at some point during that surprisingly intimate confession and the blonde looks like she wishes she'd never said anything in the first place. Noelle throws in a light laugh for good measure. "Okay, yeah, maybe I was a lot more fun. Back then I'd be the first to suggest going out and partying, but now the girls will literally have to drag me to go anywhere." 

Charlie laughs too, albeit hesitantly. "I was just joking." She says earnestly, but it doesn't take long for her expression to shift to a more playful one. "You know nerdy Noelle has my heart." 

"Shut up." Noelle groans, flushing instantly while the other is having a field day. "I'm not nerdy." She notes quietly, although that's not what struck her the most, but rather the wording of her reply. 

"Sure, you aren't." The blonde taunts jokingly, reaching over to poke the younger in the cheek. 

Noelle retaliates by viciously swatting her hand away. "Why did you bring up cars in the first place?" She huffs out in frustration, finding the perfect moment to create an aversion. 

Charlie replies when her laughter dies down. "Oh, right. We're going to a car shop. I'm bying a new ride." 

"Why? Is there something wrong with this one?" The younger wonders in concern, eyes widening a little. 

The blonde laughs at how perfectly innocent she sounds. "Not really. It's just that new models have arrived and I want to check them out. See if I like any." 

Noelle gives her a long, hard look, features twisting with visible confusion. "Rich people are weird." She sighs to herself. 

Charlie looks rather amused. "Why do you say that?" 

"Rationally, how many cars can a person need?" The younger argues exasperatedly. "Like this'd be your third switch and the first term isn't even over yet." 

"Okay, but the Ferrari doesn't count." Charlie argues. "That was part of an endorsement deal. I only got to keep it a few months." 

So the thing about Charlie Sloane's celebrity-like status, is that it's not entirely unjustified. It took a short segment and a photo alongside her father on a business magazine to get all the brand endorsement deals flying her way, from the fashion companies to the service and entertainment industry. She took up quite a few of them, Noelle'd know, because the very next day every single person on campus would have the magazine at hand, babbling animatedly about how perfect Charlie Sloane was and how lucky they were to attend the same school as her. Other commentary would be much less pleasant than that, more envy driven, the kind Noelle would laugh along to once upon a time. 

"Yeah, yeah. You're still weird though." Noelle decides easily, a certain finality in her tone that implies she isn't really willing to elaborate further. 

So Charlie leaves it at that, too.


End file.
